


Beneath a Hazzard Moon

by WENN9366



Category: Dukes of Hazzard
Genre: And he knows how to use it, Angst, Canon Compliant up to 1st Reunion Movie, Daisy is missing, Did I mention there's angst?, Enos has a glock - tell me that's not sexy, F/M, Murder Mystery, Mystery, Romance, Serial Killer, Who the Hell is L.D.? (Reunion Movie), Why did Enos leave Hazzard after the Series?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-02-28
Updated: 2011-02-28
Packaged: 2017-10-22 15:56:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 22
Words: 71,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/239832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WENN9366/pseuds/WENN9366
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set 4 years after the series. When a serial killer begins targeting the women of rural Georgia, LAPD Detective Enos Strate must make a choice - stay in Los Angeles or face the painful past that drove him away from his beloved Hazzard County.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Far From Home

_Author's Note: This story starts four years after the Dukes of Hazzard series ended, so the year would be 1989. I've kept most of the time-line that we learned from the first Reunion movie intact up to that point. Daisy has been married to a man named L.D., Boss Hogg has passed away leaving Rosco most of everything, and Enos is in Los Angeles. Instead of continuing on that time-line until the events of the movie however, I've used the circumstances that it laid out as the basis for this story, otherwise you can just pretend that the movies never happened. Part of the point of this story is to make those circumstances fit into the series, 'cause let's face it, they didn't. Who the heck is L.D.? Why did Daisy marry him? Why did Enos leave to L.A. when we know he would have rather been in Hazzard? This story attempts to answer those questions and make those answers plausible in relation to the show.  
_

 _Beneath a Hazzard Moon is probably one of the more darker of the Hazzard stories you'll find. I like to take comedies and explore the serious side of the characters – giving them challenges where they must either sink or swim. The character's histories are based on facts from the series and from my other work, The Story of Us (on ffnet) which is a history of Enos and Daisy's relationship from childhood until the beginning of the series (The Story of Us is **not** required reading before this one). Hope you enjoy the journey! _

Detective Enos Strate watched the rain as it fell, beating against the window of his office. It was dark now, another night spent up too late and working too hard, and the lights of passing traffic shone far below him. He raised his hand to the glass, tracing the patterns of their taillights – a endless, mindless stream of red in the vast ocean of dark Los Angeles. Once again the reality of how small and inconsequential his world was struck him, a feeling that had never ceased to fully disappear even in the nearly four years he'd been here since returning from Hazzard. In truth, he knew it never would, but little of that bore thinking of now. The past was a memory as dark, deep, and murky as the storm that raged outside.

He turned back to his desk and the solitary folder that still lay open. A simple domestic violence case which had ferreted out a small drug ring on the outskirts of the city, hardly large enough to make a dent in LA's major drug runners, but one contact had led to another before. Hand-written notes in his characteristic block script lay neatly to the side, and he placed them back into the folder before closing it and filing it away in his desk drawer. The clock on the wall read 2:10 am, and he knew he'd regret the late night in the morning. Enos took his coat from its hook and shrugged it on, making his way through the outer office and out the door, turning left into the corner stairwell instead of continuing to the elevators. He'd always believed that a little extra exercise never hurt, and besides that the idea of hurtling down eight stories in a metal box made him slightly claustrophobic.

The rain had subsided to a steady drizzle by the time he made it to the subway station. He stepped into one of the partially filled front cars instead of the abandoned rear ones, too tired to have to fight off any punks who were too drunk or too stupid to see the LAPD insignia on his jacket. He took a seat, resting his head against the window and dozed off as the vibration of the subway car lulled him into sleep.

The conductor announcing his stop woke him and he counted himself lucky he hadn't missed it. His apartment wasn't far and five minutes later he slid his key into the lock and bolted it behind him as he entered the meager dwelling.

The job at the LAPD paid enough money for something larger and the good Lord knew he didn't have anything else to spend it on, but it was better this way he figured, and one didn't notice the loneliness so much when they lived in a walk-in closet. Most of his money he sent home to his mother, who he had a sneaking suspicion wasn't spending it either though he'd told her to pay off the mortgage that his father had left behind when he'd died. Thankfully Rosco wasn't as eager to foreclose on the good people of Hazzard county as Boss had been.

He dressed for bed, turned out the light, and raised the blinds on the window. The rain reminded him of another day - three years, seven months, and four days ago to be precise, in a little town half a world away from where he sat now. It had been raining the night he'd left Hazzard, and it had followed him like a dark cloud to sunny California. His eyes came to rest on the drawer of the nightstand in which a single picture lay, but he made no move to open it. Instead he turned down the covers and crawled into bed, trying to remember what it felt like to be happy, only to dissolve into a dream where a girl with long brown hair and a radiant smile had stolen the sun from his sky.

* * *

 _A/N: The only age we know is that of Enos. In the movie (1997) he states that it's been 32 years since he was in 7th grade. That would put him at about 32 when the series ended. From the series, we know that Luke is around the same age, Daisy is next, and then Bo is the youngest._

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	2. Far From Home

The blare of his alarm woke Enos at 5:30am. He shut it off with a groan, feeling for all the world like he'd never slept at all, though given he'd only had a little over two hours of shut-eye it wasn't surprising. He dragged himself from the bed, only to trip over the clothes he'd been too tired to toss in the laundry basket the night before and fall headlong against the wall, banging his forehead on the windowsill.

"Ding-dang it all, it better not be one of those days," he muttered.

He picked himself up and dressed, then filled a small saucepan with water and oatmeal, setting it on the stove to to cook. He finished up his morning routine, poured his oatmeal into a bowl, and added a handful of Lucky Charms to the mix.

His mother had a long standing belief that eating sugary cereals was somehow akin to sinning on Sunday, and that anything created after reconstruction was inherently evil. His father, God rest his soul, had been the eternal optimist of the family right up until the day the family still had blown up, sending Otis Strate to ridge-runner heaven. Enos had been fifteen when his father died, but he'd never forgotten the man who had shaped his life.

"Son," he would tell him, "you find somethin' t' do that makes you happy - somethin' you can be proud of..."

Enos shook his head. Thinking of his pa only brought thoughts of Hazzard, and he'd vowed not to think about that if he could help it. He'd spent the last four years trying to forget it.

He'd always wanted to work for the LAPD, it had been a dream of his ever since he'd graduated from the Police Academy in Atlanta at 19. The excitement of chasing dangerous criminals in a big city had intrigued the starry eyed boy from the back hills who's family hardly ever had two dimes to rub together. He'd gotten there, too, and the first two years he'd spent in Los Angeles were eye opening to say the least. He'd returned to Hazzard, welcomed back into the small community with open arms.

Four years ago his experience at the LAPD was a pleasant memory of lessons lived and learned, and realization that he didn't belong there. The only reason he was here now was, well, it was the only other place he knew to go. He'd run away, something that went against everything he'd ever believed in. He shared some understanding with the fugitives he'd captured – he knew what it was like to not be able to go home again.

"I'm not thinking about that," he told himself resolutely.

He left his apartment and headed down to the subway, catching the 6:15 that would take him into the heart of downtown Los Angeles. He entered the Parker Center, humming the tune to a radio jingle that had gotten stuck in his head as he climbed the 8 flights of stairs.

"My bologna has a first name, it's O-S-C-A-R..."

The outer office of the LAPD was usually buzzing with activity, but this morning all was silent, a fact that he was too wrapped up in his own mind to notice until he turned towards his office and consequently the television set bolted to the wall in the corner of the waiting area. Everyone in the department was gathered around, watching.

"Hey y'all! Whatcha watching?"

Most of them turned to face him, and something in their expressions made his heart give an odd thump before one of the officers, Alice Kremen, spoke.

"Enos! Hey, haven't you been watching the news this morning?"

"No," he said, confused, "I don't have a television... What's going on?"

"There's been another murder in Georgia. I thought you might have heard about it. Isn't that where you're from?"

He nodded solemnly. "Hazzard County. It's north of Atlanta."

The woman regarded him thoughtfully then gestured to the television. "They found another girl in Choctaw County. You know where it is?"

"Choctaw County! That's just on the northwest border of Hazzard!" He tried to keep up on the news from around there, but the papers his mother sent him were always a couple weeks behind at best. "Someone was killed?"

"Three so far, all women from around the area as far as anyone can tell. This girl disappeared six days ago from Sweet...something."

"I don't keep up with things there as much as I'd like. My mother sends me the newspapers, but she doesn't get to the post office very much. I'm still in last October."

"You didn't go home for Christmas?"

Enos rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "I..it's a long way. Three killed? There hasn't been a murder around that part of the state since ol' Whitey Fogbottom ran his wife through a chipper in '68 over in Chickasaw County."

Alice paused and looked at him strangely. "Bad way to go. Yeah, that's one reason they're pretty sure the murders are all related. They..."

Enos pointed to the television and the reporter who had begun talking about the disappearances and subsequent murders in rural Georgia.

"...Annabelle Murphy, reported missing after she'd failed to return home from her job at a local gas station in Colonial City October 7th. Her car was later found outside Raleigh in Chickasaw County, and her body was found near Lake Choocha-Cooble on October 17th. The body of twenty eight year old Doris Hicks of Hatchape County was found November 21st in Seminole Canyon, only fifteen miles from where Murphy's body was found the previous month.  
The search has been called off now as authorities examine the body of the young woman found near Spartanburg early this morning, believed to be that of Lillie Walker of Sweetwater, missing since December 27th."

As the reporter spoke, the pictures of the three victims flashed by on the screen - young, smiling, full of life. Enos's trained eyes picked up other things as well, their height, build, hair color, eye color – all eerily similar, all obviously chosen carefully. His heart skipped a beat as the memory of another girl with long brown hair and hazel eyes flooded his mind. Unconsciously he wiped his hands, now cold and sweaty against his slacks. Colonial City, Raleigh, Sweetwater, Spartanburg – these were all towns surrounding western Hazzard County where he'd grown up, deep in the heart of ridge-runner territory, places where not many lawmen would dare to venture or know how to find their way out if they did.

"You okay, Strate?" asked another officer. "You didn't know any of them did you?"

Jerked out of his reverie, Enos looked over at him. "No..," he said quietly. "No, I...they don't look familiar. 'Scuse me, I...I've got a lot of work to do." He turned to walk to his office and in his lack of concentration managed to walk into another desk, toppling the flower pot perched on the corner, shattering it against the floor. He grimaced and bent down to pick up the pieces. Placing them back on the desk, he looked sheepishly at it's owner.

"Sorry Susan...It was a beautiful plant. I'll get you another one."

Susan, long used to Enos's lack of coordination while his mind was elsewhere shooed away his apology. "That's okay, Enos, I probably would have killed it myself if you hadn't. I couldn't get a cactus to grow in the desert."

Enos closed the door to his office behind him and set down at the desk. His hand hovered over the phone for a moment before picking it up, only to return the receiver to its cradle. There was no one in Hazzard he could call. He briefly toyed with the notion of calling Luke Duke and asking him to keep an eye out on Daisy, but he was sure he and the others were anyway, besides he didn't want to look like a stalker. He hadn't talked to any of them since he'd left. Instead he picked up the phone and dialed the operator.

"Name and location, please," said a cheery voice.

"Choctaw County, Georgia, Sheriff's Department, please ma'am."

"One moment."

Enos waited while she made the connection and the phone began to ring. "Choctaw County Sheriff's Department," said a female voice on the other end.

"Mornin' ma'am, is Sheriff Ragsdale in?"

There was silence for a moment and then the voice, now sounding slightly confused answered, "I'm sorry, sir, Sheriff Ragsdale retired last year."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I haven't been in the area for a while. Who's Sheriff there now?"

"Dewey Wilkes, sir."

"You don't say...Is he there now, ma'am?" Dewey Wilkes had been a deputy there last Enos knew. They'd gone to police academy together, and he and Enos went way back.

"Sure, I'll patch you through to him, one moment please."

"...Sheriff's Department, Dewey Wilkes speaking."

"Lord have mercy, Dewey, what in the world did they go and make you Sheriff for?"

"...Enos Strate, you mangy varmint! Is that you?"

Enos gave a nervous laugh. "The one an' only, Dewey."

"You ain't back in Hazzard are ya'?"

"No, I'm still in LA. Miss it there, though."

"I gotta tell ya', it got pretty rough around Hazzard when you left ol' Rosco and Cletus in charge over there. I can't tell ya' how many times I had to drag their asses outta th' fire an' back into th' fryin' pan."

"I'm sorry about that, Dewey. I had my reasons."

"Yeah, I heard about that, too. I'm real sorry, Enos," said Dewey. "I gotta feelin' this ain't a social call, though, is it?"

"No Dewey, I'm afraid it's not. What do you know about what's been going on?"

The sheriff sighed, "It ain't good, buddy - no way, no how. People here are scared – there ain't been nothin' like this ever happened. We got two gals dumped here in Choctaw County and that third one down Spartanburg way is the other one, they just haven't released the name yet."

"Yeah, I saw on the news here. They didn't give any details, though, if you know what I mean."

"It's not pretty for sure. From what we can tell the guy either picked them up or hitched a ride with them. They'd all been strangled, beat up pretty bad. Here's something that you won't find on the news, and I'd like to just keep in the loop if'n ya' don't mind...he keeps them alive for quite a while after he takes them."

"How do you know?"

"Well, of the two girls found here, the coroner says Doris hadn't been dead for more than a few days and she wasn't found until nearly two weeks after she'd been missing. Annabelle was still warm when her body was found ten days after she disappeared."

"Possum on a gum-bush... That means he's got to be holed up somewhere around. Have you talked to anyone up on Ridge Road, yet?" Old Ridge-runner Road bordered Choctaw and Hazzard counties, the area that was smack dab in the middle of all the disappearances.

"Ain't none of them ol' ridge-runners gonna talk to me or anyone else that goes up there - that is if you're lucky enough to actually find anyone to talk to. They see a police car comin' and they're as scarce as a mud puppy in a drought. Look, I know what you're thinkin', Enos, and I appreciate your worry, I do, but we're doin' th' best we can."

"I know you are, Dewey, it's just...well, the descriptions of the girls are a bit...familiar to hit that close to home."

"You know," Dewey answered, quietly, "I actually had a feelin' you might just call me after it got on the national news. I agree, it's uncanny. If you're worried about Daisy, though, you're best off callin' Rosco. Not much I can do from this here neck o' the woods."

"Yeah, I know, Dewey. I just wanted to find out what was really going on. I'll think about callin' Rosco. Thanks for fillin' me in."

"Hey, anytime Enos. An' if ya' ever need a job, you come see me."

Enos laughed. "Will do, Dewey. Bye now."

"Bye, Enos." Sheriff Wilkes hung up the phone and shook his head sadly. "That poor boy ain't never gonna get over that girl."

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	3. Return to Hazzard

Enos filled the rest of the week with catching up on everything that he normally would have put off until later, and the stack of paperwork that he found mind-numbingly tedious melted down to nothing. When he wasn't working, his thoughts invariably ran through scenarios of what had happened, was happening, in Georgia, and his dreams at night were haunted by nightmares of finding Daisy dead and dumped in Hazzard pond.

As much as he tried to tell himself that she could take care of herself – that it wasn't his sworn duty or otherwise to protect her anymore and that no doubt her cousins weren't letting her out of their sight, he couldn't shake the feeling of dread that hung over him. Time and time again he'd picked up the phone, her Uncle Jesse's number running through his head, only to hang up again without calling. Thus passed the next week as well, in fear, doubt, and dread over what could come to pass and anger at himself for even worrying about her in the first place.

Monday, January 23rd, started out like any other at the Los Angeles Police Department. Enos was finishing up his report on an eyewitness they'd had to a hit and run the previous month when Police Chief Roland Dempsey opened the door. Chief Dempsey was a hold over at the department from the first two years Enos had spent there, back when he was just a green-horn tripping over his own feet.

"Sir!" said Enos, standing up.

"Sit down please, detective."

Enos returned to his chair, noticing that the other man avoided looking him in the eye. "Is there something wrong, sir?"

The Chief sighed and opened the folder that he'd carried in with him. "It says here, Strate, that you haven't taken a vacation in over three years, and you only took one day off last year..."

"Yes, sir, I had an appointment with the dentist." He pulled the right side of his mouth open with his finger. "I ha a philphing phal out..."

"I'm not concerned with your teeth, Strate." The man closed the door to Enos's office. "You have two months of vacation time saved up, and I want you to take it...immediately."

"Um...what?" Enos stared back at him, confused. "Beggin' your pardon, sir, but I can't just pick up an' take a vacation. 'Specially not for two months."

"You can and you will. I'm placing you on paid leave."

"What's going on, sir? I know I've been a little distracted lately, but I don't think it's been affectin' my job performance." Chief Dempsey finally met his eyes, and in them Enos saw nothing but concern mixed with fatigue and a genuine sadness. His heart quickened with a sickening premonition. "What's happened, Chief?" he asked, his voice seeming far away to his own ears.

"There's been another disappearance in rural Georgia, son. I think you might know her." Gently he placed a photograph before him on the desk.

Enos didn't need to look at it to know who it would be, but he forced his gaze to the table anyway – to the face that had filled his dreams for so long. He jumped up from the desk, for once not tripping over anything, and made it out the door and into the lavatory, which was thankfully not far from his office, just in time to throw up.

The Chief's voice echoed in the hallway, telling the others to give him some space and go back to work. Enos, shaken, sat down with his back against the wall, his head cradled in his hands. For the first time in as long as he could remember, his tears fell – not only for what had happened, but for all the pain and hurt and confusion that he'd run from for so long, and in that moment he found that the past didn't matter. Nothing had ever mattered but her, and regardless what she did or had done to him, he was forever hers. He'd given his heart away when they were just kids and he'd never taken it back...even when she hadn't wanted it after all.

"Daisy," he sobbed, "oh dear Lord, please...not my Daisy..."

* * *

 _Meanwhile, in Hazzard..._

"Listen, Jesse," said Rosco, "I'm doin' the best I can."

"Well, your best ain't gonna cut it, Rosco. Ever'body knows you couldn't find your ass with both hands tied behind your back!"

"Now, Jesse, that's not fair. Ain't never been anything like this happened here before. Maybe you Dukes just have her hid out somewheres so that you'll get your names in the papers." The moment the words were out of his mouth, Rosco knew he'd overstepped himself. It was one thing to go on about the Dukes when it was a small time crook or hustler he was after, quite another thing when Daisy's life was actually in serious danger.

"Why you ol'..." The older man lunged at him, only to be restrained by Bo and Luke. "How dare you blame this on my boys. You jest don't want t' admit yer too stupid t' find 'er!"

"Rosco!" shouted Bo. "Of all the low down, hurtful things to say..."

Rosco fell silent a moment and stepped back, uncharacteristic sadness on his face. "I'm sorry, y'all. That was wrong of me," he said quietly. "You're right, I don't know what do. I'm just as scared for Daisy as anyone is...you...you've gotta believe that, Jesse." Tears glistened in the corners of his eyes. "I called Atlanta earlier today and they're sendin' up a detective."

Jesse sighed heavily and answered in a calmer voice. "I know you're worried, Rosco. An I thank ya' fer calling Atlanta, but truth is whoever they send down's just gonna be some city-slicker who don't know a thing about the people 'round here. If he's holed up in them mountains somewhere's, ain't nobody from Atlanta gonna find 'er."

"Well now, Uncle Jesse," said Bo, "you never know. I mean, they do train them people to do their job."

"Rosco, would you call us the minute the detective gets here? We'd like to get started on any kind of investigation right away."

"I will, Luke, I'll let you know the minute his flat foot hits the pavement."

"Much obliged, Rosco. We're gonna get back to the farm, but you call us the second you know anything."

Together Uncle Jesse, Bo, and Luke left the sheriff's office. Rosco watched them through the window, feeling ten years older and about as helpful as a fish out of water.

* * *

Enos walked back to his office, ignoring the stares and quiet whispers that followed him, and closed the door. He sat down at his desk and looked at the picture the Chief had left there. His fingers followed the curve of her face, tracing her hair. He closed his eyes, remembering how it really felt.

Deep in thought, he picked up the phone and dialed a number.

"United States House of Representatives, main switchboard," said the operator. "How may I direct your call?"

"Georgia, 4th District, please."

"One moment."

There was a click as he was put on hold and easy listening music played softly in the background.

"Representative Davenport's office, how can I help you?"

"Hello ma'am. Is Cooter...I mean is _Ben_ Davenport there?"

The woman laughed. "Well, he's actually just about to step out, but he told me if I ever get any calls from anyone asking for "Cooter" to make sure I let him know. Can you hold for a minute?"

"Sure, thank you, ma'am."

The music came back on as she put him on hold. "...Hello?" Cooter's voice came through the phone.

"Cooter? Hey this is Enos."

"...Well I'll be dipped in..." his voice sounded surprised, but tired, not the jovial tones Enos remembered from the good old days. "Enos Strate...been a long time, buddy. I suppose you heard."

"Yeah. I did."

"You caught me just in time, I'm about to catch a flight into Capitol City in a few hours, and then hitch a ride back to Hazzard."

"Cooter...have you got a minute first? Somethin' I need t' ask you."

"Sure Buddy Roe, what is it?"

Enos sighed. He'd never been comfortable asking others for help, preferring to take care of things on his own. "Well... Gosh dang, Cooter, you know I ain't never asked you for no favors, but I sure could use one right now..."

* * *

Back in Hazzard at the Duke Farm, Uncle Jesse, Bo, and Luke were sitting around the table, discussing what they thought they should do. Like Enos, they realized that all the kidnappings and murders had taken place in the area surrounding the mountains of western Hazzard county.

"Uncle Jesse, you know me an' Bo know those roads like th' back of our hand..."

"Yeah, let me an Luke go up there an' do some askin' around. It sure couldn't hurt nothin'."

Jesse waived them aside. "Now boys, you know I'd be the first to agree with you if I thought that would do any good. Fact of the matter is though, you _don't_ know all them roads up there, not only that but them ol' ridge runners know you's always draggin' Rosco or Cletus behind you. They ain't gonna stick around t' answer no questions. Sides that, they shoot first an' find out who y'are later. No, we're gonna stay home an' wait until that detective gets to town. An' you boys are gonna help him with whatever he needs without bickerin' and squabblin'."

"Yes sir."

"Yes sir, Uncle Jesse."

* * *

Enos hung up the phone and carefully folded the picture, putting it in his pocket before strapping on his holster and gun. He opened the drawer of the desk and took out his identification and badge and slipped it into his pocket. As he was reaching for his jacket, there was a knock on the door. He opened it to find Connie, the receptionist, there.

"I'm sorry to bother you, sir, but the Chief asked me to deliver this to you before you left." She handed him a nondescript white envelope.

"Thank you, Connie." He opened it, then turned back inside the door to his office. He closed his eyes and counted to ten, hoping against hope that today was only a bad dream and that he'd wake up in his own room, but the airline ticket to Atlanta, non-stop from LAX in two hours, was still clutched in his hand when he opened his eyes.

It was nearly 8:30 am. He would never make it home to change and pack before he needed to be at the airport. In fact, as busy as LAX was, he needed to leave strait there and soon since he figured on stopping by the bank as well since he had no idea when he'd be back. He did some quick calculations – the flight to Atlanta was four hours, four and a half if you counted boarding times and waiting in line to take off. Georgia was three hours ahead of Los Angeles, so he'd be getting there about 6:00pm Eastern and it was still another two hours drive to Hazzard. He doubted he could catch a plane into Capitol City, most of those flights were commuter planes and only ran a few times a day.

He wasn't wearing a uniform so he grabbed his LAPD jacket instead of his own. People tended to cut you a little slack when they knew you were a cop, and in this city, Enos needed all the slack he could get.

"Lord," he whispered, raising his eyes towards the ceiling, "please don't let me look like a bumblin' idiot goin' back there. An' help me find Daisy. Thank ya', Lord."

* * *

Enos fidgeted nervously in his seat as the plane finally made it's way down the runway and into the air. He hated flying, not just because he didn't exactly understand how a huge tin can with wings could stay up in the air, but because of the principal of it. It was too fast, too convenient.

The concept that a mere four hours of sitting in a seat that felt like a cardboard box with scratchy carpet over it beside a little square window could take him to the other side of the United States, to a world where people still looked at him like he was an alien from another planet, was a bit much for his tastes. He supposed that after all was said and done he was still just a country boy from the stix, no matter how far away he lived.

Another thing about flying was that it gave you far too much time to be alone with your thoughts. There was only one person who his mind was focused on, and he couldn't avoid her anymore. There were no reports to write, no crooks to track down, no endless stream of paperwork. There was only himself and his memories...and plenty of time.

He counted down the time on an ever running clock in his head with three dates etched into its face. February 2, 1985, the day he and Daisy had almost gotten married - though he'd had a sneaking suspicion that there was more pity in the gesture than love on her part, and he supposed hind-sight was definitely 20/20 where that was concerned. He'd given her a chance out of it, by blaming the hives, and she'd taken the out willingly enough, though she'd promised him it was only postponed.

The next day of importance in the time-line of his past was four months later on June 7, 1985, the day he'd left Hazzard for the last time – a consequence of the next day, Saturday, June 8, 1985 – the day Daisy married a man named L.D. Whitehall, a roadie for a band passing through Hazzard. She'd known him all of six days, and Enos hadn't even learned about their impending marriage first hand.

On Thursday people began to give him sorrowful looks wherever he went and whisper behind his back. He'd finally asked Maybelle, who ran the circuit board (and knew all the gossip in town), what was going on. He would never forget the look she gave him when she realized he was the only one in Hazzard who didn't know his, at least from his perspective, fiancée was getting married...to someone else. She didn't tell him herself, she made him wait outside while she called Luke to come into town and talk to him.

He'd never talked to Daisy about it. She'd been avoiding him like the plague all that week and by Friday night, he was gone.

Lord knew it had never taken much for Daisy to snooker him, and half the time he'd let himself be duped just to see her smile, but this wasn't a simple misunderstanding or a harmless prank. She'd taken his life from him as sure as if she'd shot him dead. The last thing he could bring himself to do was to go to Daisy's wedding.

He knew eventually she'd track him down and apologize and bat her eyes at him and he'd go on being miserable in Hazzard, having to see her everyday with another man's ring on her finger that bound his dreams in an iron box with no key to ever unlock them again. So he'd run away, away from Daisy and Hazzard, back to Los Angeles.

Her marriage had barely lasted six months when L.D. left her. He'd drifted back into the life of a traveling roadie without even telling her good-bye. Cooter, ever one to help out a friend, had sent Enos a short letter, to the point, letting him know. He wasn't sure what Cooter thought he ought to do about it. What was done was done, and he wasn't about to go back and be played for a fool again.

She'd never bothered to write him, and he'd spent the next three years, seven months, and seventeen days trying to forget her.

This was different, though. No matter what had happened, he knew he could never live with himself if he didn't go back to Hazzard now. Lord willing, he would find her, and then he would go back to LA – nothing more, nothing less.

As soon as he walked off the plane at Atlanta airport, Enos knew he was home. There was a different feeling here than at LAX, more relaxed and laid back. He went to the car rental lot behind the terminals. He'd need a car while he was here, the problem would be finding the right one. He needed to talk to the ridge-runners up in the hills and for that he needed a car that looked like a runner. Almost not believing his good luck, he spotted an old rusty 1972 AMC Javelin up against the fence, obviously not the choice of most commuters.

"How 'bout that one?" He asked the attendant, pointing to the car.

The man looked at him like he'd gone insane. "Um...that's not one of the rental vehicles. Just one o' the boys here has it up for sale."

"Oh. How's it run?"

"Okay I guess, he drove it in here a couple weeks ago. He was fixin' it up, but got tired of it."

"What's it got in it?" Anything less than a 350 and it would never pass for a runner car.

"401, I'm pretty sure."

"How much does he want for it?"

"$400."

"You got the keys?"

"You bet, hold on a minute."

The man fished the keys out of a drawer and handed them to Enos who went to inspect the car. He opened the door, which creaked on rusty hinges, sat down in the seat, and put the key into the ignition. He was sure he'd hear a volley of unhealthy noises from under the hood, but was pleasantly surprised when the engine turned over immediately and roared to life. He turned it off and went back to the attendant.

"You think he'd mind if I paid _you_ for it?"

"Hell no! I'm just happy t' get it outta here."

Half an hour later, Enos left for Hazzard, racing through the dusty, rural back-roads in the black Georgia night.

* * *

 _A/N: FYI, the district Ben Jones (Cooter) represented was Georgia 4th district.  
_


	4. The Last Word

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Luke, Bo, and their Uncle Jesse sat in the living room of the small farmhouse in rural Hazzard county. After their last discussion earlier that afternoon about looking for Daisy, no one had had much heart to say anything else.

Luke, Bo, and their Uncle Jesse sat in the living room of the small farmhouse in rural Hazzard county. After their last discussion earlier that afternoon about looking for Daisy, no one had had much heart to say anything else.

"Sure is quiet here without her," said Bo, mostly to himself.

"That it is, cuz," answered Luke.

"Boys, I'd like ya' t' come here for a minute," said Jesse.

Both stood up and knelt down by the chair where their uncle sat. He looked at them in turn and laid a hand on a shoulder of each before speaking. When he did, his voice was rough. "I jest wanted you boys t' know how much I love ya'. I don't know that I tell ya' that often enough, but I do.

Together both of them hugged him.

"We know that, Uncle Jesse," said Bo. "You just stop your worryin'. We'll get her back in no time, you'll see."

The older man kissed his nephew on the forehead. "We have t' remember that it's not in our hands. It's in God's hands, and I think we need to make sure we ask him for help." Both boys, arms still interlocked with their uncle's, bowed their heads.  
"Lord," he prayed, "we know that you watch over all of us, and that you hold us in the palm of your hand. You've given us each other, Lord, and that's the greatest gift that we could ever ask for, but now one of us is lost. We ask that you watch over our Daisy and protect her, and send us someone that can help us find her. We..," a loud knocking at the door interrupted him. The three looked up at each other, confused. "Amen," finished Jesse.

Bo and Luke got up with him, but he shook his head. "You boys stay here, I'll see who it is."

He made his way through the kitchen to the door, flipping on the porch light before answering it. He opened the door and did a double take. Standing in the doorway was none other than the long lost former deputy of Hazzard county, Enos Strate.

"God Almighty..."

"Hi, Uncle Jesse," he said shyly, "I'm sorry to bother you so late at night."

"No, no! That's fine, Enos," he said, moving aside from the door. "You're as welcome here as y' ever were. Come on in."

"Thank ya' kindly," he said as he nervously stepped into the kitchen.

"Enos!" Luke came over to him and gave him a brotherly hug. "You sure are a sight for sore eyes, though I wish it were on a happier occasion."

"I know what ya' mean, Luke. Hey Bo."

"Enos Strate," marveled Bo, "s'been a long time, buddy." He shook the man's hand. "Oh shoot." Bo, too, gave him a hug.

"I sure have missed y'all," said Enos, "and that's th' truth. You're right, Luke, I wished it were under better circumstances."

"Come on in here a take a seat, Enos," said Uncle Jesse. "We'll tell you what all we don't know."

They went back into the living room and told him what had happened to the best of their knowledge, which wasn't much. Daisy'd been to the bank to pay the mortgage and then she had simply disappeared and hadn't come home.

Enos thought for a minute. "Did you have Rosco pull the tapes from the bank?"

"Huh?"

"The video surveillance tapes," he explained. "There's a camera that captures anyone comin' or goin' there. It'll probably show some of the street, too. If she parked in front, we might be able t' see if anyone got in with her."

"Well I'll be dad gummed," said Jesse, bewildered. "I would'a never thought o' that."

"I s'pose it's a good thing Rosco called Atlanta after all," said Luke. He turned to Enos. "There's a detective gonna be comin' down from Atlanta tomorrow to work on th' case."

"I heard about that, but there's been a little change of plans there."

"What's that?" asked Luke.

"Well, th' detective ain't from Atlanta. I'm th' detective."

"Come again?" said Bo.

"I had Cooter pull some strings. Ain't no city-slicker detective gonna be able t' find anything up there in them hills. You know that, Bo."

"Yeah, but Enos. I mean, we're mighty obliged to ya' an' all, but..."

Enos felt his face flush. In the last four years, he'd proved himself to the LAPD. He'd practiced religiously until he was an excellent sharpshooter and could avoid tripping over his own feet most of the time and had been accepted onto one of the SWAT teams. Then as a capable detective, rising up through the ranks to become one of the lead detectives on the force. No one here knew about any of that, though. To them he was still the same guy who'd left them with little more experience than how to get his car dunked in Hazzard pond. Still the skepticism on their faces cut into his pride.

"I made detective first class at the LAPD, Bo, and this ain't the first case I've ever had...or solved, an' I think you know I'd be lyin' if I said it didn't mean a lot to me."

The Dukes shared a quick look between them. "Now hey, Enos," said Bo, "don't get your dander up. It's just been a long time, that's all. You haven't really kept in touch, ya' know."

"Bo..." Luke gave him a look that meant 'shut up'.

"That's okay, Luke," he said, sadly. "I doubt that my days as Deputy Sheriff of Hazzard would inspire much confidence in anyone."

"Boys, just back off now," said Jesse. "Lord knows he's has had more experience doin' this sort of thing than we have. Enos, what do ya' need us to do to help ya' out?"

Enos's mind automatically shifted into the role of detective, putting aside the fact that the missing person was Daisy, he focused on what needed to be done. "Well, the first thing I need to know is if she's had any contact lately with anyone who might want to do her harm. Strange phone calls, letters, that sort of thing."

"I don't think so," said Jesse. "She would've said something if there was."

Enos looked him in the eye. "That means from her ex-husband, too."

Jesse met his gaze. "We ain't seen hide nor hair of that ol' sidewinder in three years," he replied, quietly.

"Enos," said Luke, "you're not supposin' that L.D. had somethin' to do with this, are ya'?"

He shook his head. "No, most likely not, but I wouldn't be doin' my job if I didn't ask. Would you mind, Uncle Jesse, if I took a look at her room?"

Jesse stood up, and the others followed after him. "No, you're welcome t' whatever you think'll help ya'. Boys, would ya' get th' spare room ready? Enos, I know you ain't going out t' yer ma's in th' middle of the night. You're welcome t' stay here s'long as ya' need to." Bo and Luke left down the hallway.

"Thank you, Uncle Jesse. That's mighty kind of ya'. I'll try not t' get in your way."

The old man laid a hand on Enos's shoulder. "Son, I know what she meant to ya'. I'm awful sorry for what happened."

Enos dropped his eyes, away from Jesse's shrewd blue ones. "No matter what happened otherwise, sir, Daisy's always been like family to me. Just like the rest of y'all are."

Jesse opened the door to Daisy's room. "You take all the time you need to in there. The boys'll have the guest room set up for you whenever you're done. You remember where it is."

"Thank you, Uncle Jesse."

With that the older man left him alone in the doorway of Daisy's room. Jesse met Bo and Luke as they were coming out of the guest room.  
"It's all set up, Uncle Jesse."

"Thank you, boys. You best be getting' some shut-eye, won't do anybody any good if you're fallin' over tomorrow."

"Say, Uncle Jesse," said Luke, "why do ya' reckon Enos wanted to take this up on himself? I don't think I ever blamed him for leavin' an' never comin' back."

Jesse turned and could still see Enos standing by the door of Daisy's room, lost in thought.

"There's a lot of hurtin' in that boy, Luke, I can see it in his eyes. There's a point in every man's life when he has to decide what's really important to him, even if it's takin' the hard road, but it's times like those when he finds out what he's made of. You know, I'm glad it's Enos instead of some stranger from Atlanta. I know he'll do everything he can to find her..."

* * *

Enos finally stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. Little had changed from when they were kids, the same furniture, the same bedspread, even some of the pictures on the wall were the same. He felt like he'd been swept into a time machine and stepped out thirty years ago. The last time he'd been in here, Uncle Jesse had nearly tanned his hide.

He'd been thirteen and Daisy eleven. She'd gone on and on about something she'd wanted him to see, some article from one of her cousin's racing magazines that she'd pilfered from his stash. It wasn't unusual for Enos to be over at the Duke farm, especially if his pa' was making a shine run that day. Uncle Jesse had found them in her room, laughing and drawing mustaches and beards on all the people in Luke's' magazines. Enos could still hear him yelling at him about how a teenage boy had no business being in a girl's room, and if he ever found him in there again he wouldn't be able to sit down for a week.

Enos and Daisy had been nearly inseparable back then, even though Luke was closer to him in age than she was. They looked out for each other. Both of them came from poor families and her Uncle Jesse and his father, Otis Strate, ran moonshine together. The four of them - Enos, Luke, Bo, and Daisy, had grown up as close as siblings.

The other's at school didn't always take kindly to runner's kids. Enos never minded so much, he had thick skin when it came to insults, but hot-tempered Daisy could never stand by and let it be. He'd invariably end up pulling her away before she got herself in trouble, and they'd cut school and go fishing until things settled down.

As they grew older, their roles reversed. Enos was sixteen when he threw his first punch in defense of Daisy's honor. She'd let it slip to him one day about a freshman who'd followed her to the creek after school. The boy didn't seem to understand the meaning of the word "No", and Daisy had only just managed to get away from him.  
When the boy showed up at school again after missing the next week, he was nursing a broken nose and three cracked ribs along with an assortment of colorful bruises. He told everyone he'd been in a car wreck – there was no way he was admitting to anyone that mild mannered, uncoordinated, Enos Strate had beat the living daylights out of him. He'd been her self-appointed protector ever since then, until she'd married L.D.

Before he'd left for the Police Academy, no one had known Daisy Duke better than Enos. He also knew where she hid her diary, or at least where she did twenty years ago. Hoping against hope, he went around to the far side of her bed and pulled up the bedspread. There was a rip in the fabric of the box springs about six inches long. Doubting that he would find anything, he stuck his hand through the hole. His fingers caught the edge of something, and he pulled out a hardbound notebook about half an inch thick.

Page after page was filled with her neat script. Each day was logged at the top of a new page, but as he flipped through the book, he came to a large section that had been ripped out. Everything from January 28th 1985 to December 23rd of that year was gone. The last journal entry was January 17th 1986. It ended there, with half a book of pages still blank and nothing from the last three years. The missing pages encompassed the entire time between and including when they had almost been married until after L.D. had left her. More importantly it wouldn't give him any clues at all to her disappearance.

As tempting as it was, Enos refrained from reading any of it. It was none of his business. He was putting the journal back into its hiding place in the bed when it fell from his fingers to the floor. An envelope, placed in the empty back pages, slipped from the book. He picked it up and turned it over. On the envelope was a single name – _Enos._

His hands shook slightly as he opened the unsealed envelope, pulled out a piece of paper, and began to read.

 _"Dear Enos,_

 _It's taken me a long time to write this, and even now I don't know what to say. All I know is that "I'm sorry" can never make right what I did to you. There's a million excuses I could use to make it all sound reasonable, but to tell you the truth I think I might have been the only one who ever believed them._

 _I pray every night that you've made a good life for yourself out in California, Lord knows I sure did a number on mine. I wasn't ready to be married, not to anyone, and I should have been honest with you about that, but I was so worried about hurting your feelings that I just didn't know how. Instead I ran away from it, and you know I can do some crazy things when I'm not thinkin straight._

 _I can't explain why, but at the time I thought I was doing you a favor, especially after talking to your mom. I wanted you to move on and find someone who deserved you, not someone who was always snookerin you. I know I've been guilty more than once of using your feelings for me to get out of trouble, but you've got to believe that I never meant for you to get hurt, and now that I can look back on what happened, I'm so ashamed of how I acted. I guess I wouldn't know what to say to you if you were here, even though I miss you something awful. I guess it's like Uncle Jesse always says, you don't appreciate the sun until there's nothin but rain._

 _There must be something wrong with me, because if there wasn't I would never have let you leave. You're the sweetest, kindest, most wonderful man I've ever known. I don't know that I've ever understood what love really is or what I've been looking for. I wish I..."_

The letter ended there, unsigned, unfinished, unsent.

"Possum on a gum-bush," he whispered, "what the heck was Daisy talkin' to my ma' for?"

* * *

There was nothing else in Daisy's room that would have given any clue as to her disappearance so once Enos had returned the letter and the journal to its hiding place inside the bed he made his way through the dark farmhouse to the guest bedroom.

The last time he'd slept here was when Boss had fired him and Scanion was trying to kill him. Closer to his heart though were all the nights spent here as a kid when his dad and Uncle Jesse had been making a run, and Aunt Lavinia had come around to tuck them each in with a hug and a good-night kiss. Sometimes growing up Enos had felt more like a Duke than a Strate, though he was close to his pa'.

Otis Strate had been the business end of the shine running between himself, Jesse Duke, and Moses Davenport. Every spring he'd visit each moonshiner in turn, taking orders for runs and checking the quality of the product. He'd absolutely forbid Enos from tagging along when he was younger, but after his son turned twelve he decided that bringing the boy along to hold an extra shotgun mightn't be a bad idea, besides he figured he could teach his son some business skills. Despite his mother being horrified by the idea of her only child wandering around with his father visiting distilleries, Enos couldn't have been happier. His pa' had taught him well, too. By fourteen he'd known every road, every revenuer trap, and every moonshiner in the hills.

He'd learned to respect their way of life, too. Just like he knew his father skirted the law to put food on their table, those people in the hills with only a shack and a still to their name made the Strate's look like millionaires. Being a moonshiner was a often a hard - but short, life.

Enos finally fell asleep, his mind still running over what needed to be done the next day.


	5. The First Clue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A soft knock on the door woke Enos the next morning.

A soft knock on the door woke Enos the next morning.

"Enos?" Luke called. "You awake?"

Enos looked up, confused at why the sun was so high in the sky before realizing that his brain was still set for Pacific time.

"I'm up, sorry Luke!"

"No problem, Uncle Jesse's getting' some breakfast on if you'd like some."

"I'll be right there."

He threw on his clothes from the day before. He needed to visit his ma' sometime that day, not only because it was the proper thing to do, but he'd need some different clothes. He opened the door and went to the kitchen where the smell of frying ham and fresh coffee made him remember that he hadn't eaten anything since a package of pretzels on the plane.

"Hey, Enos."

"Mornin' Bo, listen I'm sorry about sleepin' so late y'all," he apologized. "My brain still thinks it's in California."

"That's alright," said Jesse, "you're not that late, it's only 7:45." He turned from the stove with a skillet of fried ham and eggs and set it carefully on the iron trivet in the center of the table. "Luke, grab some plates, will ya'. Enos, you set down there an eat ya' some breakfast and tell us what we need t' be doin' today."

Enos sat down gratefully and waited until everyone else had taken a seat and Uncle Jesse had blessed the food before speaking.

"Well, th' first thing we need to do is look at the film from th' bank. I need to check in with Rosco anyhow." He frowned. "Th' Sheriff's not gonna like me bein' in charge of him, I reckon."

"Pish-posh," said Jesse, "don't you go lettin' Rosco get to ya'. I don't think I've ever seen him so worried as I did yesterday. You know what yer doin' better'n he does." He pointed at Enos. "You just stand your ground."

"I aim to, Uncle Jesse." Jesse's quick eyes didn't miss the flash in Enos's nor the slight downward quirk of his mouth that signaled just how passionately he felt about that. "I need to go up to Choctaw county, too, so I'll check in on my ma' on the way."

"What d'ya need up in Choctaw?" asked Luke. "Anything we can do instead? Save ya' some time?"

Enos looked down and fidgeted with his napkin. "I'd better go there by myself. I need t' visit the county coroner," he said, quietly.

That thought effectively killed all conversation for the rest of the meal as the realization of what could happen to Daisy was brought to the forefront of everyone's mind.

* * *

"You didn't drive all th' way from California in that, did ya'?" Luke examined the car Enos had bought the day before with a critical eye.

"No, I bought it off a guy at Atlanta airport. I was gonna rent one, but I thought this'd blend in better. 'Sides, it was a good price."

"Be a nice car with a little TLC." Luke turned to the farmhouse where Uncle Jesse and Bo were coming out. "Uncle Jesse, why don't you go on an' ride into town with Enos, Bo and I've got to stop by Jake's and pick up a new fan belt before the General's stops just slippin' and starts breakin'."

"That's fine with me," said Jesse. "I'm gettin' too old to get in an' out of those blamed windows anyhow."

* * *

Enos's hands were sweaty on the wheel as they made their way down Mill Road towards the town of Hazzard. So much had happened since he'd last driven down these dusty roads.

"Takes ya' back, don't it?" asked Jesse.

"It sure does," was all he could find to say.

He pulled up in front of the courthouse, behind Hazzard #1 and #2, mindful that there were no hydrants close by.

" _Don't fidget in front of Rosco,"_ he told himself as he and Jesse climbed the stairs to the double doors and let themselves in.

Cletus was behind the desk, doing who knows what. He nearly fell out of his seat when he saw Enos. "Buzzards on a buzz-saw!" proclaimed the deputy. "Enos? Is that you?"

"It sure is, hey Cletus, how are ya'?"

The man looked around as though conferring a great secret he didn't want anyone to hear. "Tell you the truth, we'll all be doin' a lot better once that detective gets here. Rosco made me stay here all night just in case he came early."

"Now Cletus," said Jesse, "what in tarnation would a feller be coming to th' courthouse in th' middle of th' night for?"

"Well I don't know. I don't make the rules, I just listen t' Rosco make 'em up."

"Is he around?" asked Enos. There was only so much of Cletus he could take before he felt like banging his head against the wall.

"Oh! Yeah, he's in th' office with Atlanta tryin' to figure out when th' detective's gonna be here."

Enos opened his mouth, only to be interrupted by Rosco himself storming out of his office.

"I don't understand what those corn-brains 're a talkin' about in Atlanta. Now they're tellin' me that some other guy's been assigned to th' case. They're about as helpful as a barrel of monkeys on snuff!" He turned from Cletus and saw Enos and Jesse. "Wha...geet...ooo..."

"Hi there, Sheriff," Enos said, solemnly.

The sheriff walked over to where he stood. "Good Lord, Enos, what in th' blue blazes are _you_ doin' here?" He looked Enos over. "Ya' don't look much differn't. Don't they letcha outta yer cage in California? I thought ever'body over there was all tan and such."

"I don't reckon I have much time for sun bathin', Sheriff. You're lookin' a little grayer than I remembered." Enos laughed nervously. He caught himself fidgeting with his hands and crossed his arms in front of him.

Rosco smoothed his hair down. "Well, you know what th' Good Book says, Enos. Gray hair's a sign o' wisdom." He glared at Jesse, who stifled a snort, then turned back to Enos. "Well... _So_?"

"So what, Sheriff?"

"So what're you doin' here in Hazzard, ya' dipstick? Don't tell me you've decided t' pick up an' move back. I ain't got a job for ya', Enos. Cletus there's enough trouble."

"I'm not movin' back to Hazzard, and I ain't here for a job. I've already got one."

"Oh yeah? Well, what's that?"

Enos pulled his detective's badge from his pocket and held it up for Rosco to see.

"What's that - a Junior Ace detective badge from your Fruity Flakes? Kew, Kew!"

Jesse'd had enough. "Dang blast it, Rosco, Enos is th' detective you've been waiting for!"

"Enos? Don't be silly, why Enos couldn't find his way out of a paper bag with no bottom."

"Rosco..."

"It's okay, Uncle Jesse," said Enos. "Sheriff, I'd appreciate your help, but if you don't want to I understand. I'll just get Cletus to help me."

"Cletus! You'll do no such thing, Cletus works for me, not you, ya' meadowmuff'n. You can't just tell him what to do!"

"Well, I'm sorry to have to say it, Sheriff, but that's where you're wrong. I've been hired temporarily by th' Georgia State Patrol and as detective, I outrank you," Enos continued, "but I'd be mighty obliged to ya' for your help if'n ya 'could spare it."

Rosco wasn't accustomed to anyone genuinely wanting his help. "Uh...uh...well, I.. Well, I guess I don't have much else t' do, Enos. I sure would love t' cuff and stuff this guy before that rookie up'n Choctaw does."

"We've gotta find 'im first, Sheriff."

"Well then what're you meatheads standin' around for?"

* * *

Enos, Rosco, and Jesse gathered around the small closed circuit television in the bank office, watching the film of the morning three days before. Daisy had parked her Jeep, Dixie, in front, but she got in and drove off alone.

"Well, I guess that doesn't help us much," said Jesse.

"At least we know someone wasn't in the Jeep with her there. That means she either had to pick him up on the way home or someone had to run her off the road." Enos replayed the tape again, but let it play past the frames that showed Daisy driving away. Six seconds later a truck streaked past the bank so fast it nearly hit the curb. "Uncle Jesse, who's truck is this here?" He rewound the tape and paused it as a light colored, early 80's model Chevy truck drove past the camera. The driver wasn't visible on the tape.

"Well, let me see here... I don't rightly know, Enos. There's about two dozen or so that look like that in th' county."

Enos stared at the frame, tapping his pen absently on the desk. "Sheriff, could you do me a favor while I go on up to Choctaw County?"

"What? What's that?"

"Could you go an' ask...um...Jake if he's installed any custom suspensions on trucks matchin' that description?"

"An' just why would he have done that?"

Enos tapped on the screen in front of and behind the rear tires where the heavy duty leaf springs were partially visible. "This here, Sheriff. This truck's either been used in haulin' shine or somebody really likes t'smooth out th' bumps 'cause ain't no way this truck came like that."

"He's right, Rosco," said Jesse, looking at the truck. "That's the same kind of suspension I had put on my truck back when I's running shine. Ya' gotta baby them bottles up in th' hills unless ya' want to spill all yer money."

"You two _would_ know a thing about shine running, now wouldn't ya'? Alright fine then, I'll just go an' have a little talk with Jake this afternoon."

"Thanks, Sheriff. Uncle Jesse, if ya' don't mind I'm going to head on up towards my ma's place and then Choctaw. I don't have a CB in my car, but I should be back this afternoon an' I'll stop by here an' get in touch."

"Sounds good, Enos. Me an' Rosco'll go see Jake, and I'll meet up with Bo and Luke. I reckon it wouldn't happen in a month o' Sundays, but tell yer ma' she's welcome t' come down anytime."

"I sure appreciate it, Uncle Jesse. I'll tell her."

Enos left the bank and hopped back in his car. The quickest route to Choctaw would be down Highway 20 into Colonial City, skirting the mountains, and coming in through western Choctaw. Unfortunately his mom lived in the foothills south of Runner's Ridge and that meant taking the long way. He turned back down Mill Road for eight miles before taking an obscure trail to the left, leading up into moonshiner territory.

He was grateful that it had been a mild winter so far. The rains that normally pelted Georgia this time of the year could be massive and there had been plenty of times growing up that he'd been stuck up here with no way back into town when the road washed out. The road was dry now, though, the temperature hovering in the high 40's.

Halfway up the mountain he turned off again and drove through an old washout and down a road that was too old and too small to even have a name anymore. At the end was a metal cow-gate, flanked on both sides by an old, rusty barbed-wire fence. He stopped the car and got out. The gate was held in place by a chain, wrapped around and looped over a nail on the other side of the post next to it. He unhooked the chain and walked the gate back until he could drive the car through.

Here in the middle of the wilderness of Western Hazzard county sat a quaint farmhouse, well-kept, surrounded by what in summer was a neatly mown lawn. His ma' hired one of ol' Amos Petersdorf's grandsons to keep it up and to bring her groceries and supplies, even though she was well and capable enough to do it herself. A rusty Ford pickup sat outside the house, but it only got used for church services and funerals.

Agnes Strate was only 57, but she'd been trying to get old for as long as Enos could remember and stubborn as a mule to boot. He'd insisted on having electricity run up to the house in 1980 even though she'd gone on and on about how she'd lived her whole life without it and she wasn't "payin' that Jimmy Carter for his 'lectricity". In the end she finally gave up, though one would've thought that Enos was condemning her to life in prison instead of lights and television the way she told the story.

He parked his car beside her truck and walked slowly up to the front porch. As always, the butterflies in his stomach started before he even set foot on the first step. So many times he'd come home from school or Police Academy, not to the welcoming arms that he'd discovered most mother's had for their sons, but the volley of complaints and criticisms that he swore she sat around on rainy days thinking up just for him. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

"Ma', it's me, Enos. Can I come in?" It was always safer to announce oneself when visiting up in these parts, and his mother was no exception. She'd been up here too long to change and, even though they hadn't had a still since his pa' died, she expected the revenuers with every knock on the door.

A flurry of coughing came from inside and a raspy voice called, "Enos? What in tarnation...come in!"

He opened the door to find his mother in the easy chair watching television.

"Hey ma', I was in town for a little while and I though I'd drop..."

"Land Sakes, boy, shut th' door behind ya'!"

"Yes'm" Enos turned and shut the door tightly. "How're ya' doin?" He crossed the room and planted a kiss on her forehead.

She took a toke on the cigarette she was smoking before looking up at him. "Well, my back ails me, but there's nothin' t' be done about it. This blamed chair ya' got me has the awfullest lumps."

"Here, set up, let me fix your cushions," he offered. He pulled them up around her as she leaned forward. "There now, how's that?"

"It'll have t' do," she coughed.

"Ma, you really shouldn' be smokin' them things. It's no good for ya', you know. Doc Appleby says you'd be as fit as a fiddle if you'd give 'em up."

"That quack's been yankin' my chain fer thirty years. He don't know nothin' about me."

Enos gave up on that track. He'd said it only because it needed to be said. "Can I get ya' somethin', ma'? Here, let me fill up your glass."

"Fine. Rinse it out first, though."

"Yes ma'am." He went into the small kitchen and rinsed the glass out in the sink before filling it with fresh water. His eye caught a letter sitting on the counter - registered mail from a law firm in Capitol City. He picked it up. It had already been opened so he removed the letter inside and read it.

Now, it took a lot to upset Enos Strate, but his mom hovered about three-quarters of the way to the limit of his patience on the best of days. He closed his eyes and counted to ten. The letter was concerning his mother's house and property. She'd defaulted on the loan for the mortgage and it was set to be auctioned off in three weeks. He brought the water back to his mother, setting it gently beside her.

"Ma', why haven't you been payin' th' mortgage?"

She didn't answer, just took a sip of the water. "Enos, this water ain't cold."

"Dang it, Ma!" He waved the letter in front of her. "They're about t' sell th' house!"

"Ain't nobody comin' up here t' do nothin'."

"Well, where's th' money I've been sendin' ya'?"

"Safe."

Enos stormed out of the house and grabbed a shovel from the shed. He walked around to the back of the house where an odd assortment of small shrubs peppered the lawn. He stuck the end of the shovel underneath one and dug it up. Underneath was a mayonnaise jar filled with money. He set it aside while he dug up the others. He carried the jars to his car and set them in the trunk to go through later. He took a small duffel bag from the car and went back inside.

"Listen ma', I'll take care of th' mortgage while I'm here, okay. Just...would ya' let me know if ya' aren't gonna pay it next time?" He received only a non-committal grunt from the woman who's attention was riveted on Bob Barker eschewing the values of spaying and neutering your pets. "I've gotta' get some clothes. I'll be back in a minute."

He turned from the main room down a short hallway that ended with two bedrooms, a smaller one to the right and a larger one to the left. Enos went into the smaller one and shut the door. The room was sparse, containing only a squat twin sized bed and a dresser to the far side of it. He pulled open the drawers, taking out the clothes he'd stored there when he'd left Hazzard and putting them in the bag. He changed out of the clothes he'd worn the day before and into a pair of jeans and one of the nicer button-down shirt and threw the old clothes in with the others.

Enos grabbed the bag from the bed and opened the door, then stopped and shut it again quietly as he remembered there was something else here that he should take with him, just in case his mom managed to burn down the place one day. He crossed the room, stopped by the window, and knelt down. His fingers felt for the loose corner of the piece of floorboard by the wall. He found it and pushed down, popping the rest of the board up. He pulled the board aside, then took out the one next to it as well. Beneath the boards, hidden between the sub-floor and foundation, was an old wooden WWI ammo box, about a foot long, eight inches high, and four inches wide. He pulled it out, set in on the floor, and opened the clasp on the end.

Enos had never had much growing up - in a place where having food on the table everyday was a feat in and of itself, he had always learned to count intangible blessings over worldly ones. Everything else fit into this box. He took out the contents one by one and laid them on the floor. A picture of him around thirteen or so with his dad, a picture of himself and Daisy when they were still in school, a rubber band propelled airplane, and finally a child's toy holster with two metal cap guns and a sheriff's badge. He laughed as he took one of the guns out of the holsters and pulled the trigger.

"Ka-pow!" he whispered. The guns were the only store bought toy he'd had growing up. To this day, he'd never known how his pa' had raised the money to buy them, but they'd appeared under the Christmas tree when he was eight along with the holster and sheriff's badge, and they'd been his most cherished possession for several years. It seemed like only yesterday that he was chasing Luke and Bo around while they played revenuers and moonshiners – the rural Georgia version of cops and robbers.

He put the objects back into the box and closed it, then carefully replaced the floor boards. Picking the bag up again as well as the ammo box, he opened the door and made his way back down the hallway and into the living room where his mom hadn't moved.

"I've gotta go, ma'. I've got to head up t' Choctaw an' take care of some things. If you want, I can stop by tomorrow an' take ya' to town. It'd do ya' a world of good to get out a spell, and Uncle Jesse says you're welcome t' stop by anytime."

She finally turned to look at him. "Oh...so that's what you're doin' here in Hazzard. I might've known it had somethin' to do with them Dukes. That man ain't yer uncle, an' I don't believe in callin' people what they ain't," she said. "I allow I'm guilty of lettin' you spend too much time down there when you were a kid. I reckon that's why you're so disrespectful."

"I'm real sorry you think that way, ma'." Enos had heard all of this before, so much so it hardly phased him.

"Don't tell me you've come all th' way t' Hazzard to find that girl?"

Enos flinched at that. He could have done without mentioning Daisy here. His mother had always had an open contempt for his friendship or otherwise with her. To his mom, she was nothing but an ol' ridge-runner's kid, and though he'd reminded her often enough that he was, too, his ma' was dead set against Enos courting her. Daisy was the only thing that he'd ever deliberately disobeyed her over.

"I'm a detective, I have a job t' do – I reckon it don't matter who it is."

"You'd better be glad ya' didn't run off an' marry her after all – I seen she done already run her first one off a couple years back. I suppose you'd expect that from trash like her."

"Ma, please don't talk about Daisy that way." He picked up his bag and the box and opened the front door to leave, but stopped. The words of Daisy's letter came back to him and he turned once more to face his mother. "What did you say to her, ma'? Before she got married?"

"I told her that you could do better than marryin' a tramp like her. I guess she knew I was right, too, since she went an' married that other feller th' next week."

Despite what he felt like saying, Enos held his tongue. His pa' had taught him that if you couldn't say somethin' good about someone to just keep your mouth shut, so instead he closed the door and walked away. He got in the car and drove out the gate, mindful to shut in again, but rather than getting back in the car, Enos walked down the abandoned lane. He picked up a rock and chucked it into the woods as far as he could. It hit a tree and echoed through the quiet forest. Picking up another, he threw it, putting all his frustration behind it. He continued until his anger was gone, replaced by a sorrow that his own flesh and blood would talk that way to or about anyone. Surely Daisy hadn't taken anything that ol' bat said seriously, had she? Everyone in Hazzard County knew the word of Agnes Strate had to be taken with a whole heap o' salt, not just a grain.

As he got back into the car and headed up over the mountains to Choctaw County, though, he couldn't stop the tiny voice in the back of his brain that whispered to him that Daisy _had_ listened to his mom, after all.


	6. Choctaw County

_A/N: WARNING: This chapter is rated "T" for slightly graphic descriptions of crime scene photos.  
Also, I'm using the Map of Hazzard County that you can see in several episodes. I have a link to it on my profile page (if it's not there, check back in an hour or so). If anyone has an actual copy of this, could they verify that the big lake in Choctaw County is Choocha-Coobee? That's what it looks like, but it's hard to make out. Also, they look like they just stuck things on the map randomly, so I've taken the liberty of adding things where I think they should go. All my additions are in RED. Probably many more additions to come._

 _Again, reviews are much appreciated...  
_

* * *

Choctaw County was about half the size of Hazzard County. It was primarily a tourist trap for fishing on Lake Choocha-Coobee as well as the smaller Lake Chickamahony which lay southwest of Seminole Canyon and whose southern edge bordered Hazzard County . Choctaw was the county seat and, being so small, the local doctor also served as the county's coroner.

Enos pulled his car up to the Sheriff's office in the little village. There wasn't much going on here, Choctaw had been a booming town in the early 20's as mining took hold, but by the mid 30's the ore supply had dried up and with the depression, people who had made the town their home moved west looking for work. The town now boasted nothing more than a Post Office, Sheriff's department, and a gas station connected to a small mom and pop General Store. Dilapidated buildings, vacant for decades, ringed the small town square.

He pulled open the door to the Sheriff's department and went in. A woman with coke-bottle glasses sat behind the desk, working on a crossword puzzle and chewing gum. She looked up as he entered and gave him a warm smile.

"Well, now, you must be Enos Strate 'cause we shore ain't 'spectin' nobody else comin' by today."

"Yes ma'am. That'd be me." He looked around. "Is Dewey in?"

"He's in his office. You're in luck, Doc Pritchard's with him." She pointed to a side door labeled simply "office".

"Thank ya', kindly." He crossed through the waiting area and knocked softly on the door before opening it.

"...Speak of th' devil! Hey Enos," said Dewey, "I's just tellin' Doc here about th' time you done gave ol' Rosco th' shuck-n'-jive back when we's in th' Academy."

"Oh, no Dewey, that's an awful story," complained Enos, "he don't wanna hear 'bout that."

"Hi Enos," the man said, standing and shaking Enos's hand, "I'm Doc Pritchard, but you can just call me "Doc"."

"Pleased t' meet ya', sir. Don't mind what he tells ya', they put me up to it."

"Only 'cause you were th' one drivin'! So anyways," the Sheriff continued, "we were headin' back to Atlanta from visitin' my folks - me, Enos, and Jeb Waller from up in Seminole. We'd just crossed over into Hazzard County, down towards Pine Hollow Road when we pass this girl..."

"Amy McCullum."

"...Yeah, havin' car trouble. Anyways she was pretty easy on th' eyes so we stopped t' see if we could help. None of us knew much 'bout fixin' cars, though," he laughed. "She was all worried 'cause she had a couple bottles of shine that her pa' needed to get t' Caleb Tillson before th' end of the day. It was only a few miles down the road so, being the kind boys that we were, we told her we'd deliver 'em for her. Of course we hadn't so much as turned the corner that ol' Rosco started out after us. He chased up around the hills for a while until Enos here led him right through a revenuer trap. That squad car's probably still moulderin' at the bottom o' Sticky Swamp. Say, Enos, did ya' ever tell him it was you drivin'?"

"Heck no!"

"Anyways, I suppose we should get down to th' business y'all came for, like as not. Enos, I don't know what all you know, but I suppose you'll want t' see th' reports and pictures."

"Yeah, I'll need t' go over 'em."

Sheriff Wilkes passed him two folders, labeled with the names of each of the two victims found in Choctaw County; Annabelle Murphy and Doris Hicks. He opened up the first one, giving a cursory glance at the autopsy report, then took out the photos, studying them one by one.

Crime scene photos were a standard part of procedure, and Enos had seen more than his fair share working in LA. After a few months, you became desensitized to them – a necessary defense mechanism of that line of work. This was the first time he'd worked a case involving someone he knew, though - not only that, but someone he was as close to as Daisy. His mind kept stumbling over the fact that the hands who had taken the life of these girls now held Daisy's in them.

Dewey stood up and motioned to the doctor. "Doc, why don't ya' join me for a cup o' coffee. Enos, you want me t' bring you some coffee?"

"No thanks, Dewey."

Dewey led Doc Pritchard out of the office, closing the door gently behind them. Enos stopped and lay the pictures down on the desk and rubbed his eyes.

" _She's not Daisy...,"_ he whispered to himself, _"but if you don't get on with figurin' somethin' out, it's gonna be Daisy." _

He took a deep breath and picked the pictures back up. The girls were clothed, and though found by the water they had obviously been dumped there. In addition to being badly beaten, both women had a single ligature mark around their throats where they'd been strangled by what looked to be a heavy gauge coated wire or something else smooth and about a quarter inch diameter. There were no ligature marks on their wrists or their ankles (telling him they'd probably been kept somewhere their killer wasn't worried about them escaping from.)

The picture that captured his attention the most was the closeup of Annabelle's hands, though. Her fingernails had obviously once been neatly manicured, but the nails had all been broken off, a few ground past the quick until they had bled. He flipped the folder of Doris Hicks back open and sifted through the pictures until he found the closeup of her hands. Her nails had been short, but the ends of her fingers were cut and bloody, just like Annabelle's.

Enos looked up as Dewey and Doc came back in. "Doc, the girl from Sweetwater, I don't suppose you've seen th' photos have ya'?"

The man shook his head. "That I haven't, though she was found submerged so there likely isn't much t' see."

"What about these girls' clothes, were they wet or dry?" he asked, tapping the picture in front of him. "I know Doris was outside for a few days, but Dewey said Annabelle hadn't been there long."

"Not long at all, in fact I'd say she hadn't been there for more than an hour at most."

"Possum on a gum-bush! Did anybody see anything?"

"Naw, a guy went out to check some traps in the area and got turned around and lost, otherwise nobody would've found her for weeks," He looked at Enos thoughtfully. "Funny you should ask about their clothes. Annabelle's jeans were soaked, like she'd been sitting in water, but her shirt was dry for the most part."

Enos frowned. "That fits th' bill with what I was thinkin'."

"What's that?" asked Doc.

"I think he keeps 'em in an old well. It would explain why he didn't bother t' bind their hands or feet, an' why their fingers were torn up. It might not be a well exactly, but somethin' like that anyhow."

"Silo?"

Enos shook his head. "The girls' fingers, they were all cut up like they'd tried to climb up or out of somethin'. I can't imagine anyone trying to climb out of a silo unless it was an ol' brick one, but even then they wouldn't be settin' in water."

"Well, that's bad enough," said Dewey, "but it gets worse. The bottom's 'sposed to drop outta the temperature come Thursday night. They say we're gonna get th' worst ice storm we've had in fifty years. If she's outside in a well, wet and cold, she ain't gonna make it through th' week."

Enos shot up out of the chair. "Listen y'all, I've gotta get movin' if I'm gonna find her before then. I'll catch up to ya' later, Dewey. Nice t' meet ya', Doc." He practically sprinted from the office, thanked the secretary as he passed her, and bolted out the front door and down the steps to his car. Today was Tuesday – he only had until the day after tomorrow.

Back in the Sheriff's office, Doc Pritchard turned to Sheriff Wilkes. "Somethin' sure lit a fire under that boy's rear end."

Dewey watched from the window as Enos drove off like a bat out of Hell. "You know the gal that's missin'?"

"Daisy Duke?"

"Enos grew up with her – shoot, her family practically adopted him. They were engaged a couple years back."

"Geez Louise! No wonder he's antsy."

"Aw, that's just Enos. It's when he starts talkin' all serious like you've got t' worry 'bout him."

"He sounded pretty serious t' me."

"Yeah, that's why I'm worried."

* * *

Enos took the shorter way around the mountains and back into Hazzard by highway, gunning the Javelin's 401 for all she was worth. Coming around the town square, he saw Bo and Luke outside the garage that used to belong to Cooter, now Jake. He slid across the road in a controlled skid and came to a stop perfectly parallel parked in front of the garage. It was a feat worthy of the General Lee, and if Enos hadn't been so worried, he might have been pretty pleased with himself. He climbed out of the car and went around to where Luke and Bo stood.

"I sure am glad you're not chasin' _us_ around anymore," said Bo. "Where'd ya' learn t' drive like that?"

Enos, who had too much on his mind to have paid attention to his driving, looked back at his car, surprised. "Oh," he laughed nervously, "I guess that was pretty good, huh? I took a course in defensive drivin' at the LAPD. Listen fellas, we've got t' get busy on this lead. Do ya' know if Uncle Jesse found out anything on th' truck?"

"Yeah, he filled us in an' Rosco had Cletus take us over to th' bank to watch it ourselves," said Luke. "Jake said he hadn't done any on a truck like that that he remembers, but we found someone who did."

"Who's that, Luke?"

Luke motioned Enos to follow him and Bo into the shop. A man was bent over the engine of a car, but his face was obscured by the hood. Luke nudged the man's shoulder. "Hey, someone's here t' see ya'."

Out from under the hood came Cooter Davenport himself, looking for everything like he'd never left Hazzard for Washington D.C. "Hey y'all...Enos!" He shook his hand. "It's good t' see ya', even though I wished it were for somethin' happier."

"Hey Cooter, I owe ya' one, an' I won't forget it neither."

"I just bet you won't, Buddy Roe, if'n we can find out who we's lookin' fer. Uncle Jesse said ya' had a lead on a white truck?"

"Well, now, light colored. Th' tape was black an' white, so it could be anything from beige t' white or light blue possibly. You put in a suspension?"

"Yeah, I did. Couple years back for a feller over in Chalk Hills. Ol' Rooster Sills, you know him?"

"Yeah, I've met him once or twice back with my pa'."

"You still got that tape? If I take a look at it I could probably tell you if it's th' same one or not."

"Sure do, let's go."

Cooter watched the tape and confirmed that it was the same one he'd installed the custom springs on. He didn't remember exactly what year of Chevy it was, only that it was an early 80's model and off-white (or dirty, he added).

"Well, I'm gonna ride on over t' Chalk Hills and check with Rooster about that truck," said Enos. "He's getting' up there in years. Can't imagine he'd have anythin' to do with somethin' like this, but maybe he's got family around that use it."

"Alright, well, me an' Bo are gonna head back to th' farm."

Enos caught his arm and stopped him. "Luke..."

"Yeah?"

"Dixie has t' be somewhere. Check th' ditches on th' way home."

The man looked at him gravely before nodding his head. "Will do, Enos, will do."

* * *

  
 _A/N: Can't y'all just see the look on young Enos Strate's face - doing a good deed for a friend and suddenly realizing he's running shine and there's a cop chasing him? Lol._


	7. Finding Dixie

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enos found Rooster sitting on his porch drinking moonshine, just like he'd remembered from visiting him with his pa' over twenty years earlier.

Enos found Rooster sitting on his porch drinking moonshine, just like he'd remembered from visiting him with his pa' over twenty years earlier.

"Afternoon, Mr. Sills," he said, amiably. "I don't know if you'd remember me, it's been a while."

The old man peered at Enos, who now stood at the edge of the porch. "Can't rightly say I 'member your name, sonny, but yer pa' was Otis Strate. Lord a mercy, but ya' shore did turn out lookin' like 'im."

"That's right, sir, I'm Enos," he said shaking the man's hand.

"He was a good man...fair."

"Yes sir, he was."

"Well then Enos, come on up here an' sit a spell an' let's see what we can do for ya'. Can I get ya' a sip?"

Enos took a seat in an old knotty pine chair. "Thank ya', sir. Just a taste, though." Enos hadn't had a drink he reckoned in over 10 years, but home brews were a point of pride to a moonshiner and turning the old man down would have been akin to spitting in his face.

The old man poured a shot of whiskey from a green Mason jar into a short glass and handed it over. "So, young man, what's on yer mind that you've come up t' this neck o' th' woods? Can't say I get vis'ters much anymore, though Amos does get down t' chew th' fat every once in a while."

Enos took a sip of the shine and fought to keep a straight face. Either ol' Rooster was loosin' his touch or he was a piss poor moonshiner – it tasted like molten vinegar. He cleared his throat. "Well, we're lookin' for a truck that matched the description of one you had worked on some time back," he said. "You had some new springs put in?"

Rooster looked puzzled. "Yeah. Yeah, I used t' have an ol' pickup. Sold it t' Andy Higgins on about last summer, I reckon."

"Andy? Is that Abel's boy or Floyd's?"

"He's Abel's."

"Do you happen to remember th' year of truck it was?"

"'81. Say, that boy's not in any trouble is he?"

"I don't rightly know anything about him, sir, I'm just tryin' t' track the truck down right now, make sure everything's alright. It hit a curb down at th' square."

"Oh, well, ya' know how it is w' shiner's kids. They've always got about three-fifth's rollin' 'round in their veins."

Enos grinned. " _Some_ of 'em, sir."

"You shore do remind me o' yer pa', boy," he said, laughing, "I swear he was th' only cold sober bootlegger I ever saw."

* * *

The sun was sinking, bathing the tops of the hills in glowing amber hues, as Enos left Rooster and headed back towards the Duke farm. He would just have to take a chance on someone being there – going back to Hazzard would be nearly 15 miles out of the way from Chalk Hills. Instead he drove east five miles, swinging around Stillson Canyon, until it met up with Mill Road. He hung a left and another three miles had him at the Dukes' front porch. Uncle Jesse's truck was parked by the barn. He hopped out and walked up to the screen porch. A memory of Daisy, bounding through that door, smiling at him while her hair caught the breeze flashed through his mind. He shook his head.

"Uncle Jesse?" he called, opening the door.

"Come on in, Enos." Enos stepped into the kitchen where Jesse was stirring something in a saucepan on the stove. "Did ya' find anything out about th' truck?"

"Yes sir, I went t' see Rooster Sills, but he sold the thing come last summer. You know Abel Higgin's boy, Andy?"

"Not rightly enough. Seen him a couple months ago around town. Why, is that who ol' Rooster sold it to?"

"Yes sir. Abel still settin' up by Dry Creek?"

Jesse thought for a minute. "I 'spect so, though he got caught for possessin' shine last year so his teeth are gonna be on edge about talkin' to the law 'bout anything."

"That's why I stopped by, Uncle Jesse," he said. "I was wonderin' if you'd have a coat I could borrow that didn't say LAPD. I'll need th' 12 gauge an' shells I left here, too, if they're handy."

Jesse set the pot down on the stove and turned to look at Enos. "Now, just hold on just a minute there. It's nearly 5:30. This time of year, it'll be full dark in an hour. You ain't going out there now."

"Beggin' your pardon, Uncle Jesse, but I reckon I am."

"Now, Enos, I know you're wantin' to get to th' bottom of this, but it ain't gonna do Daisy any good you going out into them hills after dark. If ya' _do_ find Abel, you're gonna get yerself shot."

Enos turned away from Jesse, looking instead out the window to the hills in the distance. "I've been shot at before," he said, quietly.

There in that moment - in the haunted look in in the younger man's eyes, Jesse realized just how much Enos had changed. The naïve innocence had been scrubbed away, leaving a man who he reckoned had witnessed more hatred, violence, and bloodshed on the streets of Los Angeles than they could ever fathom in Hazzard County. He rested his weathered hand on Enos's shoulder.

"There's no more you can do today, son. I know yer in charge of th' search, an' I can't stop ya', but I'd appreciate it if ya' didn't go off an' get yourself killed. Right now, you're the only one who knows what yer doin' an' we need ya - Daisy needs ya'- to stay safe."

Enos turned back and sighed, but anything he might of said was cut short by the voice coming in over the CB radio.

"Lost Sheep to Shepard, Lost Sheep to Shepard, you got your ears on? Come back."

Uncle Jesse went around the table and picked it up. "This is Shepard. What's wrong, boys?"

"Uncle Jesse," said Bo, "is Enos there with ya'?"

"Yeah, he's right here, what's goin' on?"

"Uh, well...we found Dixie.."

"Ask him where," said Enos.

"Okay, Bo, where is she?"

"Th' woods just past Stillson Canyon, where Mill Road Splits off to Snake Trail Lane."

Enos was out the door before Bo finished talking.

"We'll be there in just a minute so you boys just stay there. Enos just left an' I'm right behind him. I'm gone."

Enos pulled off where he saw the General Lee and Bo and Luke waiting beside it. He'd just driven through here not half an hour before on his way from Chalk Hills and hadn't noticed a thing, of course he'd also been going about fifty miles an hour – a speed that wasn't conducive to noticing much other than the road in front of you.

"You were right, Enos," Luke called as Enos got out. "It looks like someone ran her off th' road."

There was a small ravine here between where the roads split, not visible from the road itself. "I just drove past here not a half hour ago." Enos pointed down into the woods. "Down there?"

"Yeah. Took us forever 'till we saw the tire tracks in the mud on the side."

"You've got good eyes, Bo," he said. "We don't have too much more light as it is though. Have you guys been down there?"

"No, we followed the tire tracks 'till we seen her, but we thought it best to wait for you before we went messin' with it."

"I'm much obliged, Luke."

Instead of following the tire tracks directly down to the Jeep, Enos walked the other way, following the tracks back up onto the road until he came to the point where they'd first swerved. Beside them was a set of tracks still visible in the muddy ruts on the edge of the road, made by a deeply lugged truck tire. These he followed back to the road where they were lost in the tracks of the other vehicles. He walked back to the first tracks he'd found.

"Y'all come here," he called. Bo and Luke ran down the road to where Enos was crouched down. "We're definitely lookin' for a truck. See these tracks here? The tires are too big for a car. They're probably fairly new too, you can see the lug marks real well."

Luke bent down and examined them. "Huh, well that fits with the truck we saw on the tape of the bank." He looked back at Enos. "You find anything out about it?"

"Yeah, I'll tell you 'bout it later, though. The sunlight's not gonna last much longer an' I need to check out Dixie."

Enos went back to the ravine, noting that whoever had run Daisy off had to be fairly familiar with the roads here to know exactly where that ravine was since the side of the road was grown up with briars and sagebrush, unless it had just been a lucky shot. Had it been summer, they might not have found it this quickly. As it was, a trail was just visible. He followed it through the undergrowth until the bank sloped suddenly down.

At the bottom of the small gully rested the Jeep, its wheels sunk deep into the mud. There was nothing inside, so he turned back to the trail the vehicle had plowed. Most of the ground was covered with dead leaves, but behind the jeep, in the mud, was a partial footprint of a man's heavy soled work boot. Too much was missing for him to guess the size. Another footprint, this one of a smaller woman's sized boot was visible beside the door of the Jeep. The smaller tracks, instead of going back up to the road, led further into the woods. Enos followed them. Along the way were more partial prints, mainly from the front part of the treads of both sets – Daisy had been running, and someone had been running after her.

About 500 feet into the woods, the prints stopped, ending in a wide spot of crushed and mangled vegetation. Five grooves, about six inches long, tore into the mud at the far end. Enos knelt down and placed his own fingertips into the grooves, slowly tracing the marks.

He left and walked slowly back up to the road to where they were waiting with Uncle Jesse. "Find anything that'll help?"

"A couple of footprints. You mind if I borrow your radio?"

"Heck no, go ahead."

"Thanks." Enos leaned into the General Lee and grabbed the mic. "Sheriff, this is Enos, do you read me, over..." He waited, but there was no answer. "Sheriff, are you there?"

"...This is Sheriff Ros- -co P. Coltrane...Of course I'm here, Enos, where th' heck else am I gonna be? I ain't got no supper waitin' at home an' Flash hadn't figured out how t' cook yet. Where in th' world are _you_? I ain't seen hide nor hair of you since this mornin'."

"Sheriff, you remember how t' work a _real_ crime scene?"

The bravado disappeared from Rosco's voice. "...a...a what?" he answered quietly. "Y...you...you didn't find...not, not _Daisy_ did you?"

"No, Sheriff, we found her jeep. There's some tracks around it, though, and maybe some prints. If you could come out when it's light and take pictures of everything, I'd be mighty obliged."

"Dang it, Enos, you done just about give me a coronary! Yeah, I can do that. Where's it at?"

"The little ravine off the split between Mill Road and Snake Trail. If you follow the deer trail on past the jeep, you'll see the most of th' footprints."

"You can count on me. Me an' Flash'll take care of it first thing."

"Thanks Sheriff, over an' out."

"So, wait a minute, Enos," said Bo. "We've gotta leave Dixie here?"

"Just until tomorrow mornin' so Rosco can take the pictures. Sorry, but if I don't do things by th' book, won't nothin' hold up in court."

"Yeah, I s'pose you're right."

"Well, I'm gonna head on back," said Uncle Jesse. "Enos, that shotgun of yers is gonna need cleaned. It's been in th' closet fer ten years."

Enos took one more look behind him into the woods before heading to his own car. "I'm right behind you, Uncle Jesse."

* * *

About an hour later Bo and Luke returned to find Enos at the kitchen table, cleaning the 12 gauge he'd left there years ago.

"Plannin' on doin' some huntin'?" asked Bo.

"That's not real funny," said Enos, not looking up.

Bo threw Luke a look who shrugged his shoulders. "So what'd ya' find out from Mr. Sills?" Luke asked.

"He sold the truck last year t' Andy Higgins."

"Andy Higgins? The guy they caught lookin' in windows of th' girls' dorm down at the Capitol City Community College?

Enos looked up at Luke. "Where'd ya' hear that?"

"Susie McCullum was talkin' about it standin' in line at the post office couple months back. I don't reckon anything came of it."

"You don't know where I can find him, do ya'?"

Luke shook his head. "Not anymore than up at his pa's." He took a second look at the shotgun Enos was now piecing back together. "You'd be better off if we came with ya'. Three shotguns are are might better than one."

"I'm much obliged, but no. I gotta go alone."

"Now come on, Enos," complained Bo, "you can't just leave us outta th' loop. Daisy's our cousin, ya' know."

"I know that, Bo, but Abel Higgins is more libel t' shoot you than me. 'Sides, everybody knows Cletus and Rosco ain't but two shakes behind you most of th' time. Nobody's gonna talk to me if they see th' General Lee around. I need you fella's to help me with somethin' else anyways."

"Sure Enos," said Luke, "what do ya' need us to do?"

"I need ya' to go down and have Rosco look up th' county records on that truck that Rooster had. He said it was an '81, but he'll need the VIN number and license and tell him to put an APB out on it. I doubt it'll do much good if he's up in th' hills, but maybe we'll get lucky."

"Sure thing, Enos'."

"Thanks y'all. Listen, part of the reason I had Cooter pull those strings is 'cause me an' my pa' visited every moonshiner in them hills before he passed on. Hopefully some'll have long memories...or bad aim..."

"You just be careful," said Bo. "Oh, hey I almost forgot. Uncle Jesse's got a spare CB. You want us t' hook it up in your car for ya'?"

"Thanks', Bo, I sure would appreciate it. I feel like I'm 500 miles away without one."

Bo clapped him on the back. "We'll get it in there right now."

* * *

Bo and Luke left the house and headed for the shed where the spare radio sat gathering dust in a dog-eared box on a high shelf. Luke hopped on a crate and brought it down.

"It don't look too bad," he said, opening the box. "I reckon it'll still work."

"It better," said Bo, "I feel like a got a bag over my head not knowing what's goin' on with Enos."

"I know what ya' mean. Hey, grab a screwdriver on your way out."

Bo grabbed a screwdriver out of Uncle Jesse's tool box and walked over to Enos's car where Luke was already inside.

"Hand me those mounting brackets and th' screwdriver."

Bo passed them to his cousin and rested his arms on the roof of he car. "He sure has changed, hasn't he, Cuz?"

"Hand me th' radio. Who, Enos?"

"Yeah. I mean, shoot, it don't seem but yesterday he was trippin' over his own feet an' lettin' ol' Rosco kick him around."

"I gotta feelin' he's seen a lot more of the wrong side of the tracks out in LA than we could ever imagine here in Hazzard. It's bound t' change a fella. Here, take this." Luke handed Bo the screwdriver as he climbed out from the floorboard of the car. "T' tell you the truth, I almost wished we hadn't been so eager to talk Daisy outta marryin' him that day at th' Boars Nest."

Bo looked at him as though he'd sprouted an extra head. "Are you serious? She didn't love him, Luke. She was just gonna marry him t' spare his feelin's."

"Yeah, well, I reckon she didn't love L.D. none either when she married him. 'Sides, I don't know if I quite believe that anymore."

"What?" Bo laughed. "You can't tell me you seriously believe that Daisy was sweet on Enos."

Luke looked at him thoughtfully. "She's...different when he's not around. The first time he left Hazzard, I swear she looked lost half o' the time, like somebody trying to remember something they've forgotten. Then she practically threw herself at every eligible bachelor that came through the county."

"That's just bein' a Duke."

Luke shook his head. "I don't know. Everybody deals with things differently. Then when he came back, everything suddenly went back to normal. Honestly, I wouldn't have believed it myself until she started walking around with that same look on her face three years ago."

"I think you're goin' batty, Luke. So she missed him. That's a pretty far cry from lovin' him, though."

"Yeah, I reckon she'd say that, too."

* * *

Enos couldn't have slept a wink even if he'd tried – so he wasn't trying. He lay on the bed in the guest room, staring at the darkened ceiling until he finally heard the soft snores coming from the room across the hall. When he was sure everyone was asleep he got up and put on the old denim coat that he'd borrowed from Uncle Jesse. He tried to walk as close to the wall as he could to keep the boards in the floor from creaking. He didn't stop in the kitchen but unhooked the latch on the door and made his way out through the screen porch out into the farmyard.

There was a full moon – a 'shine' moon his pa' used to call it. He didn't reckon he'd ever spent a full moon night at home as a kid. It was prime runnin' time, and his pa' was kind enough to drop him at the Duke farm instead of leaving him to the mercies of his ma'.

He walked over to his car and sat down on the hood. Staring out into the darkness, he thought about all he'd done and seen. His life on the outside was one of 'small town boy made good in the big city', but on the inside a standoff raged everyday, not so different from the one's he'd faced with the SWAT team on the streets of LA.

On one side was Hazzard - the world and life he loved. The nights filled with lightening bugs and the howls of coyotes instead of street lights and sirens. People who waved when you drove past them or said 'Hi' if you saw them at the store instead of kids tryin' to sell dope to other kids or hookers on the corners who he swore got younger and younger every year.

But there was another side to Hazzard, a side that tore at his heart and made the alienation of California seem bearable. He'd give just about anything to go back to the world he lived in five years ago – a world in which he had never seriously dreamed that Daisy Duke would ever return his affections. Therein was the crux of the matter, the source of his never-ending heartache. In all his years of loving her, he had never allowed himself to believe she could ever really be his – until the day she'd almost married him. For a few months, his dreams seemed to be coming true, only to be shattered suddenly, without a word on her part. So he'd run away to California, where he'd volunteered for the beats and later the cases that nobody wanted to take. The ones where you made sure you said your prayers in the morning because you might not be around to say them at night – only to survive to remember another day.

For the rest of his life, he would never forget what it felt like to believe that she loved him. And now, after all the years of running away, he'd do anything to see her safe – just one last time.

Return to Top


	8. Old Familar Faces

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enos left at first light, after having slept only an hour or so after returning to his room the night before. Taking the shotgun and extra ammo with him, he climbed into his car and sped away. Today was Wednesday and if he didn't find her in the next 24 hours, he knew his chances were slim he'd find her alive. The weather, as if in defiance of the forecast for the next afternoon, was a balmy 54 degrees – abnormally warm, even for Georgia.

Enos left at first light, after having slept only an hour or so after returning to his room the night before. Taking the shotgun and extra ammo with him, he climbed into his car and sped away. Today was Wednesday and if he didn't find her in the next 24 hours, he knew his chances were slim he'd find her alive. The weather, as if in defiance of the forecast for the next afternoon, was a balmy 54 degrees – abnormally warm, even for Georgia.

On the other side of the county, Rosco, too was awake. He'd taken home the camera they kept at the Sheriff's office so he'd be able to drive straight over to where Enos had told him Daisy's Jeep was. He carried Flash out of his house and down to the patrol car.

"Now Flash," he said, lovingly, "Daddy's got to do some real police work today, so I'll have to leave you in th' car. But I brought your doggy num-nums with me for you to have a snack while I'm busy." He deposited Flash in the back seat and climbed into Hazzard #1.

Highway 20 ran along the southern edge of Hazzard county and Rosco followed it until he came to the "T" where Mill Creek Road took off, heading west. Snake Trail was fifteen miles out from the town and half an hour later he pulled off of the road beside the split where it merged with Mill Road. He grabbed the camera from the passenger's seat.

"Daddy'll be right back, Flash." He turned around to find the aging Bassett hound asleep. "I sure hope I remember how t' work this cotton pickin' thing."

He climbed out of the car and walked over to the edge of the road where he could see the skid marks in the mud. In the 38 years since he'd been a police officer, he'd never had anything as serious as this happen. Sure, he'd seen plenty of tragedy in Hazzard County, but mostly it was Moonshiners getting' blown up by their own stills, the way Enos's father had gone out. He snapped a couple of pictures of both sets of tracks in the road and then headed through the briars down the ravine towards the Jeep.

"Ooo..jeee...these stickers are sharp...ow! Now, what the heck was I supposed t' be lookin for?" He saw the footprints beside Dixie. "Oh yeah, tracks. There's a good one."

Rosco bent over and took a picture, managing to get his own feet in the frame as well. The deer trail was on the other side of the Jeep and he followed it, taking pictures of both sets of tracks as he walked along. He nearly fell in the mud when he came to the scuff marks in the ground where they stopped. He took a picture of the area and turned to leave when something white in the brush caught his eye.

"Looky here, I think I done found a clue. Kew Kew!" He reached out to pick it up, but then stopped. "I guess I'd better take a picture of it first." He took a picture and again reached out to pick it up, and stopped. "Wait...now, when you find a clue, you're not supposed t' touch the evidence."

He felt around on himself and found a pen which he used to carefully pick up what he could now see was a white cotton handkerchief. He walked slowly back out of the woods and up to his patrol car, holding it out before him as though it were a bomb that might explode at any second. He reached in the car and dumped his lunch out of its brown paper bag and stuck the handkerchief inside instead.

"Look at that, Flash," he said, holding the bag up in front of the dog. "Daddy's done bagged a clue! Kew Kew! I love it! I love it!"

He started the car, turned it around, and headed back to town.

* * *

Enos turned right off of Mill Road up Cedar Point Lane which ran north up into the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains towards the area of Dry Creek. Dry Creek wasn't really dry, but the name had been given to it longer ago than anyone in these hills could remember and the name had stuck throughout the generations. He drove almost by rote, turning down roads that had no names, heading further and further into the heart of moonshine territory until he came to where he remembered the old Higgins place being and pulled off. He grabbed the shotgun from the backseat. Hoping maybe he could catch the old man alone, he walked up the wooded hill towards the shack. He didn't remember how many sons Abel had, but making shine was a family affair and if he went straight to their still there was libel to be more people around.

Enos made his way slowly, ever mindful of traps. As he neared the house, he came to a place where two trees stood parallel to each other. Instead of continuing on the path between the trees, he walked over to one of them and bent down, feeling in the leaves at the base. His fingers caught on a strand of fishing line, running from one tree to the other. He was sure it was connected to some sort of noise maker, but didn't pull on it to find out. Stepping carefully over the line, he continued up to the front of the small cabin.

He shouldered the 12 gauge and knocked on the door, waited and then knocked again. Finally a scuffling of feet could be heard inside.

The door didn't open, but Enos noticed the piece of wood in the wall beside it that covered a peephole move slightly out of the way.

"Who r' _you_?" came a gruff voice from inside.

"It's Enos Strate, sir, Otis Strate's son."

"You don't have no business here."

"I'd be mighty obliged if I could talk to ya' for a minute, Mr. Higgins."

A long moment passed and Enos was beginning to think he'd have to try another tactic when he heard the scrape of the board barring the door move aside. It opened to reveal a tall, broad shouldered man with a scruffy beard, and hair that looked like it had been hacked off with a rusty knife.

"I said you didn't have no business here. An' I know who y'are. We don't take kindly t' deputies snoopin' 'round these here parts."

"I ain't been a deputy for years, sir." Enos reckoned that was technically true enough.

"Well then what d'ya' want?"

"I need t' talk to your son, Andy, sir. Is he here by chance?"

"No, he ain't here, and if'n he was wouldn't be none o' yer business I reckon. Now, me an' my boys are gonna give you exactly one minute t' get offa my property."

Enos's eyes widened as he heard the familiar "ch-chick" of a shell being pumped into a shotgun to the left of him and realized he'd been flanked as a third man made his way from around the right side of the house.

"Hey, now fella's," he said, holding his hands up. "I didn't come here for no trouble. I'm goin'."

He backed up and then walked backwards down the hill, tripping over the fishing line and rattling a host of tin plates and cups that had been rigged to it. The men laughed as he picked himself up and ran down the hill.

"What d' ya' think he was wantin' with Andy, pa'?" Asked one of the men.

"I don't know, but you two better go on an' check th' still. Somethin' don't smell right about that boy."

"Sure thing, Pop."

The two younger men hopped in the old truck that sat in front of the shack and headed off down the road. Abel Higgins watched them go, then turned inside the shack again and barred the door behind him.

"Mr. Higgins, sir, I sure didn't want it to come t' this, but I reckon I need to talk to ya'."

Abel spun around to find Enos Strate standing in his living room, aiming a shotgun at him.

"Wha...wh...how did _you_ get in here?"

"Moonshiners' cabins always have a back door, Mr. Higgins, or did ya' forget I grew up in these parts?"

"What d' ya want from me? I ain't goin' t' prison, so you can jest shoot me if that's what you're after."

"I'm not here after your still, I just need t' know where I can find your son. I need t' ask him some questions."  
"'Bout what?"

"About some missin' girls."

The man looked confused. "Missin' girls? You mean you think my Andy's messed up with these murders been goin' on? Andy might be guilty o' some illegal profiteerin', but he ain't no murderer!"

"If I could talk to him, he could clear that right up."

"I don't know where he is."

Able jumped back a foot as Enos pumped a shell into the chamber. "I'm not rightly sure I made myself clear on how important it is for me to find him."

"I swear, I ain't seen him fer a couple weeks or more! He spends all his time up at Josh Hooper's."

"Where's that at?"

"The old Adam's place up on North Fork."

"I'm mighty obliged to ya', Mr. Higgins," said Enos, lowering the shotgun. "I hope ya' don't have no hard feelin's over this. Good day to ya'." He turned and left out the back door, down through the woods to his car. He picked up his CB.

"Sheriff, this is Enos, are you there? Over." The radio buzzed with static. He was almost out of range and when he headed up North Fork he probably wouldn't get any reception at all.

"Enos, this is Rosco. What's your 20? Over."

"I just visited Abel Higgins, but he hasn't seen Andy in a while. You know anything about this Josh Hooper who's up in North Fork?"

"Enos, I don't follow the genealogy of criminals."

"What makes you think he's a criminal, Sheriff?"

"You dipstick! Ever'body knows that ever'body up there's either makin' shine, runnin' it, or growin' wacky weed. Over an' out."

"If you say so, Sheriff." Enos rolled his eyes and put the CB away. Rosco couldn't, wouldn't, and didn't try to understand the people who lived up in the hills. His father had been the Sheriff before him and his grandfather before _him_. The Coltranes had been after the Dukes, Strates, Davenports, McCullums, and Petersdorfs for generations. Enos was the exception to the rule.

North Fork was the next hill over, but on these roads it would still take a good half hour to get there. He didn't know Josh Hooper and couldn't recall any Hooper's that had ever lived up in these parts. Maybe he was a drifter in from another county, but like as not, Rosco was probably right – if he wasn't making shine, he was probably growing weed. Lots of the younger generation who drifted in were. Enos took off the coat he'd borrowed from Uncle Jesse and grabbed his bomber jacket with the LAPD insignia on it from the back seat instead. He checked the time. It was already 11:30 a.m., and at this rate he was getting nowhere fast. He pulled back out onto the dirt road and headed back up the mountain.

About 20 minutes later he pulled up in front of the old farmhouse that he remembered as belonging to the Adam's family, now one Josh Hooper. He'd debated just staking the place out to see if Andy showed up, but he didn't have much time and with his luck no one would show up until tomorrow, or not at all. A guy, looking to be in his mid 20's, overweight and unshaven, sat in a lawn chair in front of the house, smoking a reefer. Enos grabbed his handcuffs from the glove compartment, stuck them in his pocket, and got out of the car.

"Hi there," he said, walking up to the man who was obviously very stoned. "I'm lookin' for Andy. That you?"

The man looked at Enos sleepily. "Naw, man, I ain't seen Andy since last week," he drawled.

"Are you Josh?"

"It depends on who's lookin'..."

"I heard you an' Andy are pretty close. Where's he hole up when he's not here or at his pa's?"

"I ain't gotta tell you nothin'," he said, taking another toke of the weed. "You don't look like a feller he'd wanna be talkin' to anyway, so run on."

Enos kicked the base of the lawn chair, spilling the man out of it onto the ground where he floundered around like a beached whale.

"Hey, man! What the..."

Enos flipped him over and cuffed his hands behind him. "You're under arrest for possession of marijuana. Get up!" Enos hauled him to his feet and pushed him towards his car. "You can stay in jail until you feel like tellin' me where your friend is."

"No way! You can't do this! I got rights..."

"So do I, Buddy Roe. If I's you, I'd start talkin'."

* * *

The door of the Sheriff's Department slammed open, rattling the blinds on the other side, and making Cletus jump as Enos half pushed, half dragged Josh Hooper into the booking room. Rosco came out of the office to see what all the ruckus was.

"Enos, what in tarnation are ya' bringin' _that_ riffraff in for?"

"He's...uh...Get up, I can't carry ya'!...He's going in a cell 'till he remembers where Andy Higgins is."

"Now, uh look, Enos...I know Boss turned a blind eye to it – God rest his little, fat, chubby soul – but ya' can't just lock someone up for no reason."

"He was smokin' dope, too."

"Ooo...naughty, naughty," Rosco brushed his index fingers together at the man. "Shame, shame, everybody knows your name. Cletus! Don't just sit there like a frog on a log, help Enos take him downstairs."

"Yes sir, Sheriff!" Cletus hopped up and grabbed the man's other arm. Together he and Enos dragged the man, who now seemed to be asleep and was snoring loudly, down the stairs to the first holding cell and tossed him onto the bed.

"He don't look too cooperative," commented Cletus.

Enos shook his head. "I'm running outta ideas, Cletus. Findin' Andy an' his truck's turnin' out to be like findin' a needle in a haystack."


	9. End of Innocence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enos stopped his car and got out at the end of Ridge Runner Road. Before him the land fell off in a steep ravine, ending at a road he driven on only fifteen minutes earlier. This was one of the highest places in the county and from his vantage point he could see the tiny town of Hazzard to his right, snuggled away at the base of the Blue Ridge foothills and Highway 20, winding like a silver snake through the valley until it disappeared to the south. To his left was Choctaw County, more mountainous than Hazzard County, the peaks rising up to meet the low lying clouds.

Enos stopped his car and got out at the end of Ridge Runner Road. Before him the land fell off in a steep ravine, ending at a road he driven on only fifteen minutes earlier. This was one of the highest places in the county and from his vantage point he could see the tiny town of Hazzard to his right, snuggled away at the base of the Blue Ridge foothills and Highway 20, winding like a silver snake through the valley until it disappeared to the south. To his left was Choctaw County, more mountainous than Hazzard County, the peaks rising up to meet the low lying clouds.

He closed his eyes as a wind swept across the hills, coming not from the southwest, but from the north – a wind that brought a chill, and not only from the cold. His clock was ticking and, in the last hours before the storm, it was irrevocably joined with Daisy's. He opened his eyes and cast a last glance around him. Somewhere - somewhere within the area that he could see – she was there, he knew it.

"Daisy," he whispered, " _where are you_..."

* * *

"Let me outta here! I wanna lawyer...and some food! I'm gonna sue you when I starve. Hey! Somebody come down here an' talk to me!" Josh Hooper had woken up half an hour before and had been complaining ever since.

"I'm about t' go down there an' shut his pie hole _for_ him in a minute," griped Rosco. "Cletus, where'd Enos say he was goin'? I though he wanted t' question that numb-skull."

"He said he was goin' t' drive back up around Ridge Road for a bit, just in case he spotted that there pickup truck."

"Dang-it!" Rosco got up and went over to the police radio. "Enos, Enos this is your comman...Uh...uh...this is Sheriff Ros—co P. Coltrane. Are ya' out there? Come on."

Enos's voice was faint as he picked up. "Hey Sheriff, this is Enos."

"Enos, your dipstick's woken up. Either ya' get back here an' ask him your questions or I'm gonna put him t' sleep again. He's drivin' me an' Cletus bonkers."

"I'm comin' in now, thanks Sheriff. Enos out."

Enos spun the car around and headed back down towards town a different way than he'd come up, slowing down as he passed each homestead and shack. He drove past a trailer with an off-white pickup in the yard, roughly the right year, and pulled the car over. It hardly bore examining, he could see when he was twenty feet away that the tires were just about worn down to the threads. He gave a cursory glance around it, though. One corner of the bed was filled with stagnant water – this truck hadn't moved in quite a while. The screen door of the trailer opened and banged shut. Enos looked up to see a woman, blond and in her mid 30's, walking towards him with a shotgun.

"Hey, you! Get away from that truck!"

Enos took another look at the woman. "Amy? Amy McCullum?"

"Enos? Oh my gosh!" The woman set the shotgun down against the porch and ran over to give him a hug. "What are you doin' here? Last I heard you was a big shot in California!"

"I'm still there, though I wouldn't say I'm much of a big shot."

"Hell, y'are around here! Gosh, we're all so proud of ya', it's not like one of us escapes these hills every day, ya' know. Is there somethin' I can help ya' with?"

"Well, I'm lookin' for a pickup that looks a lot like this. Thought this might have been it, but it's not."

"This ol' thing? Naw, th' clutch done give out on it last fall. Gotta wait till it gets warmer an' drier t' work on it, though."

"How's business?"

She grinned and elbowed him. "Now why would I be talkin' to a police officer about such things?"

"Shucks Amy, you know I ain't never given nobody away up here. What I don't see ain't my business, I reckon."

"Enos, I swear, you're th' best dang cop Hazzard ever had." She turned to the truck and kicked a tire. "Be better when we can get th' truck going. Jasper comes up an' takes th' orders but he broke two jugs last week. He's too busy racin' t' remember what his cargo is."

"That's a shame, your daddy always made some o' th' best around."

"Hey now, my pa's getting' old! I do most of it now. So anyways, I heard someone was lookin' for Andy. That you?"

Enos frowned. "Word travels fast. You know where I can find him?"

Amy shook her head. "I wish I did, an' I'll tell ya', I wouldn't have no trouble rattin' out that good fer nothin'. He's th' reason half o' th' kids in Hazzard are smokin' dope."

"He's growin'?"

"Yeah, him an' that Josh Hooper kid. Got 'emselves a greenhouse somewhere's up here. I don't know where, though."

"Thanks Amy, you've been a big help. I gotta get back t' town, but maybe I'll see ya' around later."

"You take care of yourself, Enos."

"Bye, Amy."

That explained why Josh didn't want to tell him where Andy was thought Enos as he continued on his way into town. If they were sitting on a patch, he'd probably rot in jail until he got his slap on the wrist. Enos looked at his watch. It was already 4:05pm. He'd wasted too much time up here with nothing more to show for it than a confirmed hunch that Andy was growing weed.

Something else bothered him as well...pot growers usually didn't try to make extra trouble for themselves – and serial killers were usually too focused on themselves to grow pot. Why did he feel like he was missing something?

Enos pulled his car up in front of the Sheriff's department and went in.

"Hey Cletus, he's awake?"

A thunking noise began from downstairs as Josh began kicking on the bars again.

"You'd better go down there before Rosco comes back," said Cletus. "He's been doing that for th' last hour."

"Thanks, Cletus." Enos hung up his coat and walked through the booking area and down the narrow stairway at the back to where the holding cells were.

" _You_!" shouted Josh at Enos. "You're in big trouble, buddy! You ain't got no right t' hold me in here. Warn't no weed on my property – you ain't got nothin' on me!"

Enos rolled his eyes. "I don't know what you're talkin' about. You were smokin' weed when I found you."

"I..I don't 'member that."

"Well, you can remember that later, right now I need ya' to remember where I can find Andy Higgins."

"Huh uh...I ain't got no idea where Andy is. I already tol' ya' that."

* * *

Upstairs, Bo and Luke entered the Sheriff's department. "Say, Cletus, you seen Enos?"

"Uh yeah, he's downstairs with Josh Hooper. Say..."

"...Thanks, Cletus." The men walked around Cletus's desk and headed to the stairway.

* * *

"Listen, I know he's growin,' an' I know you've been helpin' him. It'll go a lot easier with you if you just tell me where he is right now. I'm gonna find him eventually."

"Then go find him yourself, asshole!" Josh spat at Enos through the bars.

Enos reached through the bars and grabbed the man's shirt, jerking him forward and smashing his face into the cell door. "I've had just about all from you that I can say grace over, Buddy Roe."

The man let out a frightened squealing sound. Luke and Bo heard it and rushed down the stairs.

"What the...Enos!" shouted Bo, "Let go o'him!"

"Tell me where he is!" yelled Enos.

"Bo, help me!" Luke grabbed one of Enos's arms, trying to pull him away from the man whose face he was still crushing into the bars, but Enos was stronger than he looked.

"Leave me alone, Luke! He knows where Andy is an' he's gonna tell me."

"Enos, this ain't th' way t' do it. You're gonna get yourself in trouble!"

Enos put his face up beside Josh's. "If she dies, I'll find you... an' you'll wish I hadn't," he said, quietly, before letting him go. The man fell to the floor.

Enos ran up the stairs, grabbed his coat from the hook in the booking room and took off out the door. Bo and Luke were too late to stop him.

"Come on, Luke, we'd better go after him."

Luke caught Bo's arm and held him back from the door as the sound of squealing tires came from outside. "Let him go, Cuz. He'll be back. Let's see if we can talk some sense into that kid downstairs."

"Hey, now boys," whined Cletus, as they passed his desk again, "you ain't really supposed to be down there, ya' know. Rosco's libel t' think o' some reason for you t' stay there permanent."

"Thanks for the heads up, Cletus," said Luke. "We'll be fine."

The cousins went back down the stairs to find Josh sitting dejectedly on his bunk. He jumped up, frightened, when they came back. "Hey, you keep that crazy guy away from me!"

"Listen...Josh, I'm Luke Duke, an' this here's my cousin, Bo. I'm sorry that Enos scared ya', but well, we're in kind of a bind here an' we could really use your help."

"I'm not tellin' where Andy is. If I did that, I'd be loosin' a lot more money than just a fine fer smokin' some weed."

"Look, we have reason to believe that your friend might know somethin' about the girls that got murdered up in Choctaw. Now our cousin, Daisy, is missin'. Enos...he's pretty close to her."

"Girls?" Josh looked at them like they'd gone crazy. "I definitely don't know nothin' about no girls."

"Well, when's the last time you saw Andy?" asked Bo.

"Shoot, it's been going on three weeks now. I swear, I didn't know he was mixed up in somethin' like that!"

Bo smiled. "So, you wouldn't mind tellin' us where he is?"

"Well, it ain't all that easy. Ya' see, there ain't no road names up there. I'd have t' take ya' myself."

Bo and Luke glanced at each other.

"You two can even cuff me."

"I don't see no harm in it, Luke," said Bo. "It ain't like he can go anywhere's if he's cuffed."

"I don't know..." Luke racked his brain for a better solution.

"Come on, Luke! That ice storm ain't gonna hold off much longer – it's already dropped ten degrees outside."

Luke sighed. "Okay, fine...we'll have to distract Cletus, though."

"Well, that ain't never been a problem before."

Bo ran upstairs. "Uh, hey, Cletus!"

"Yeah, Bo? What's wrong?"

"The kid downstairs says Andy's truck is parked over there at ol' Ace Parker's lot."

"Buzzards on a buzz-saw! You mean he's traded it in?"

"Looks that way. You'd best get over there an' check it out. We'll hold down th' fort here 'till Rosco gets back."

Cletus got up and grabbed his coat. "You would? Gosh, that sure is nice o' you two. I'll get right out there." He walked towards the door.

"Oh hey, Cletus," called Bo. "better leave th' keys here, just in case."

"Oh yeah, here ya' go." Cletus threw the key ring with the cell keys to Bo and headed out the door.

Bo laughed and shook his head. "We'd sure be in trouble if that guy ever grew any brains." He grabbed a set of handcuffs from Cletus's desk drawer, left a short note so Rosco wouldn't think they'd just let him escape, and headed back down.

"Here Luke." He threw the cuffs to Luke and unlocked the cell door. "No funny stuff, now, Josh."

"No way, man. I don't wanna get caught up in any kind o' murder rap."

Luke cuffed the mans hands behind him and led him upstairs and out of the building down to where the General Lee sat in front.

Bo pulled the seat forward and he and Luke lifted Josh through the window into the back seat, then hopped in themselves and took off.

* * *

It struck Rosco immediately that something wasn't right when he returned. It was too quiet.

"Cletus? Cletus, where are ya'? Dang nam it! That boy's dumber than a bag o'rocks." He went over to Cletus's desk and found the note that Bo Duke had left.

" _Josh says he'll show us where Andy's at."_

"Ooo...that's not good." He grabbed the keys from the desk and went downstairs. "Ooo..jeet...that's _really_ not good. Enos is gonna _kill_ them. Then he's gonna kill _Cletus_. ...Then _I'm_ gonna kill Cletus," he added. He went back up the stairs and picked up the CB.

"This is Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane calling Bo and Luke Duke. You better come in, boys, an' I mean right now...this is serious..."

"Hey Rosco, this here's Luke. Look, I'm sorry we had t' bail Josh out without tellin' ya', but after we told him about the murders he decided he didn't want no part in it and said he'd take us t' Andy."

"That riffraff's gonna shuck-an-jive you, boys. Now, you turn around right now an' come on back here."

Enos, who'd heard the exchange between the two picked up. "Luke, Rosco's right. If he's takin' you up in them hills, you'll be lucky enough t' make it back down. He's the only lead we've got an' we can't afford t' loose him. Y'all need t' turn around!"

"Look Enos," said Luke, "I understand that, but you didn't see his face. I think we can trust him t' show us where he is." Luke's voice broke up as their signal began to fade.

"Luke, you ain't thinkin' straight!" pleaded Enos, "You can't trust him t' do that! Where's he takin' ya'?"

...Static..."About five miles off Cedar Point Lane, windin' around a little."

"He's takin' ya' right back t' Abel Higgins place! Turn around, Bo, you guys are headed right into a trap."

"Enos, we ain't...get anywhere waitin'... him t' answer your questions. We've...him cuffed...ain't goin' nowhere...right back...an' out."

"Ding-dang it all! Luke! Bo!" There was no response from the cousins. "Rosco, I'm comin' in."

"That's a big 10-4, Enos. Over an' out."

* * *

"Pull over right here," said Josh. They parked at the base of a wooded hill and climbed out of the car, helping Josh out as well. "If we go straight up the hill, he won't see us. Th' house is at th' top."

"Sounds good," said Luke. "Lead th' way, but stay close."

Together they made their way through the quiet woods. They'd almost reached the house when Bo's foot caught the fishing line strung between the two trees. Pots, pans, and dishes rattled loudly. He looked over at Luke, a frightened expression on his face.

"Luke..."

"I think we've been snookered, Cuz."

Josh grinned triumphantly at them as four men with shotguns came from over the ridge.

"Josh!" shouted one of the men. "Ya' havin' some trouble?"

"Yeah, boy I'm I glad t' see you, Earl! These r' th' guys snoopin' around fer Andy."

"Oh really..." Earl looked over at Bo and Luke and raised his shotgun at them. "You boys look t' be tresspassin'. I'm gonna count t' three, an' then I'm gonna start shootin'...One..."

Bo and Luke looked at each other and turned and ran down the hill.

"Two...," the man called after them.

They hopped into the General Lee and spun it around. A shotgun blast rang out, disintegrating the General's left side taillight. They tore through the back roads until they turned back onto Cedar Point Lane. Bo pulled the General over to the side of the road and killed the engine.

"Luke," he said quietly, "Do you realize what we've just done?" He looked over at his cousin whose expression closely matched his own stricken one. "He was th' only one who could've shown us where Daisy is. We've _killed_ her, Luke..."

"It ain't over yet, Bo. We'll figure somethin' out..."

"Why'd we go an' do such a fool thing? We should'a listened to Enos. He's gonna kill us...and I wouldn't blame him one bit."

"Let's just get back to town. We'll put our heads together...come up with somethin'." He rubbed his face. Lord, but he didn't want to have t' face Enos with this.

Bo started the General and they made their way back into town. Night had fallen and with it the temperature which now hovered in the mid-30's. They had no way of knowing the gravity of that fact – Enos hadn't told them his suspicions about Daisy being kept outside, but there would be no looking for anyone in a north Georgia ice-storm or for several days after one.

Heavy hearted, they pulled up in front of the Courthouse and climbed out. Luke was sure Rosco or Enos one would be waiting for them when they walked in...and there was no hiding that Josh Hooper wasn't with them. He didn't have to wait for his suspicions to be confirmed. Enos was waiting just inside the door

"Where's Josh?"

"We're sorry, Enos," said Luke. "You were right, an' we screwed it up real good. I don't know what else t' say."

"I told you he was leadin' you to a trap!"

"You gotta believe us," said Bo, "we feel awful. We just...we thought we had t' take th' chance...for Daisy's sake."

Enos turned on Bo, "There's nothin' I wouldn't do t' find her if I thought it'd work! Don't you even think about sayin' otherwise!"

"Now, Enos, that's not how I meant it an' you know that." Bo took a step forward. "She's our kin."

Enos shoved him. "Are you sayin' I don't care for her as much as you 'cause we're not _related_? There're things thicker than blood, Bo Duke!"

"Like what, Enos?" asked Bo, shoving him back. "You're th' one who left Hazzard. If you cared so dang much for her, you could'a stuck around!"

Enos caught him with a right hook and Bo went down like a sack of potatoes.

"Hey!" shouted Luke, "You two calm down! This ain't gonna help nothin'." He pointed to his cousin who was rubbing his jaw and split lip. "You deserved that."

Enos disappeared out the door.

"Enos!" Luke called after him, but he was already in his car and pulling away. He turned back to Bo and helped him up. "Nice work. Do you think ya' could be a little more of a jerk next time or is that your limit?"

* * *

Enos pulled his car up to the edge of Hazzard Pond, turned off his CB, and got out. The night was still clear, but there was a dark wall of clouds to the northwest, stretching out as far as the eye could see, rolling closer and closer with every minute. He took a seat under an old, gnarled tree that grew by the bank. His hand still smarted from hitting Bo, a fact that he'd normally have felt bad about under different circumstances. Now, he didn't know what to feel. He supposed he could be angry with them for letting Josh escape, but honestly it probably didn't matter much – he wouldn't have told them where Andy was anyway.

He picked up a rock and tossed it into the water, but the sound reminded him of other days, long ago, and he realized belatedly that Hazzard Pond was the worst spot he could have picked to come. It was less than three miles from the Duke Farm as the crow flew, and himself, Luke, Bo, and Daisy had spent countless hours here on summer days when they were younger – summer nights, too, when the catfish were biting. He'd driven by instinct, though, not really even noticing where he was going until he'd pulled onto the road that led down to it.

This pond had seen more of his memories than the mountains had, he reckoned, good and bad. When he was fifteen, he'd come here the day his pa' had died. Daisy had found him, hours later, sitting against this same tree. He had no idea how long they'd sat there together, neither of them ever speaking a word, until he'd felt like going back. He'd always missed that - the closeness that he and Daisy had shared when they were younger, the ability to know what the other was thinking without saying a word... but it had ended when he was 17...

" _Enos, have you ever kissed a girl?"_

He shut his eyes and covered his ears in an effort to make the memory go away, but it played on through his mind.

It had been a summer day and he'd come home from the academy to get away from the city. The four of them had come down to fish, but the fish had had other plans. After three hours of nothing biting other than the mosquitoes and chiggers, Bo and Luke had called it quits. He and Daisy had stuck around a while longer, talking about nothing in particular.

"So what'd you get on your history test you were studyin' for," he asked her. She'd always hated history with a passion, mostly because everyone knew Mr. Reed was the most boring teacher in the entire tri-county area.

"I passed..."

"I didn't ask ya' if ya' _passed_. What did ya' get on it?"

"...a D...plus," she laughed.

"Daisy, you're smarter'n that. You'd have straight "A's" if ya' paid more attention in class and less to th' back end of Jake Tolliver."

She elbowed him. "I do no such thing!"

"Yeah, right," he grinned. "Don't worry, Daisy, your secret's safe with me!" He made like he was zipping his lips. " At least until I tell your cousins!"

"Enos Strate! You tell them a lie like that and I'll...I'll tell Amy you'd be happy to take her to th' school dance next month."

"Shucks, Daisy, I'm just pickin' at ya'," he grumbled. "There's no need t' get mean about it." He picked up their rods and started up the bank. "Come on, we'd better get back before Uncle Jesse feeds our dinner to Maudeen."

"Enos, have you ever kissed a girl?"

He stopped, sure he hadn't heard her right, and turned around. " _What_?"

"Well, ya' know, some of th' girls were talkin' at school. And...well, I want to know what it's like...to kiss a _boy_ , that is."

Enos was still reeling from her first question, and his brain hadn't caught up enough to think of anything to say. She walked over to him and threw her arms around his neck.

"Come on, it's not like I can ask my cousins. It wouldn't mean anything."

He looked down at her, confused. "Y...you..want me t...t' _kiss_ you?"

"Sure, what's the big deal? I'm your best friend, aren't I?"

"Yeah, but..." He'd never thought of Daisy in any context other than that.

"So?"

"Umm...okay, I guess..." He leaned forward and kissed her cheek.

"Not like _that_...like _this_..." She pressed her lips gently to his for a moment before letting him go and smiling up at him. "See, that wasn't so bad, was it?" She picked up the rods that he'd dropped and started up the hill. "Come on, we'd better get back. Uncle Jesse's gonna tan my hide if I'm late for supper again."

He watched her go, unable to move, his heart pounding. The moment her lips had touched his, the life he knew had ended. He'd never been able to look at her in the same light after that, or talk to her without fumbling over his words, or turning five shades of red. Daisy herself had never said another word about it.

Enos looked up at the stars - the same stars that shone over Daisy, wherever she was. He was out of ideas, out of time, out of luck. The first drops of rain mixed with his tears as he sat alone, staring up into the night.

* * *

Twenty-two miles away, in the hills of northern Hazzard County, another set of hazel eyes stared up into the sky from the bottom of an old abandoned well. She tried to remember how long it had been since she'd woken up to find herself here. It was probably Wednesday or Thursday night, but she couldn't be sure. Since Friday, the time had been marked only by the rising and setting of the sun, and the man who peered over the edge occasionally. He had thrown her packages of Twinkies and other junk food during the course of the week and a large bottle of water five days ago which she'd drunk sparingly. She'd given up screaming for help, not only because it hadn't brought any, but the sound of her voice reverberating off the stone-lined walls of her makeshift prison had been enough to suck any courage she'd had left out of her. The well at least had been dry for the most part and it hadn't rained, and she still had her coat. The temperature had started falling during the day though, and now she was shivering even though the well protected her from the wind.

It wouldn't protect her from whatever was coming, though. She knew that. On the far side – the side she'd tried to avoid looking at, there was a broken fingernail, wedged in the crevice between the rocks. She thought about what to do when the man came for her. If he lowered a ladder, she could try to climb it and then run. She could try to fight, though she didn't have much hope that she'd be able to hold up very long. Daisy had no illusions that her time to live was probably short. If she was in the hills, no one would find her in time to save her. It looked like the Duke luck had finally run dry.


	10. The Choice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  _A/N: Warning: This chapter is rated "T" and it ain't for fluff...sorry. This might be a good time to warn you that I majored in Abnormal Psychology and one of my favorite shows is Forensic Files. _

_A/N: Warning: This chapter is rated "T" and it ain't for fluff...sorry. This might be a good time to warn you that I majored in Abnormal Psychology and one of my favorite shows is Forensic Files. _

_Also, those of you who aren't familiar with an ice storm – it's beautiful, amazing, and scary all at the same time._

* * *

Rosco pulled Hazzard #1 up to the Courthouse at 6:00 the next morning. He didn't know if he'd slept a wink the night before, and he knew he surely hadn't been the only one. He'd tried to radio Enos several times but had gotten no response, and he was worried about the man. Despite him having moved to California, Rosco knew enough about Enos to know his heart hadn't left with him. If they lost Daisy, Lord knew what he might do.

He climbed out of his car and looked up at the sky. It had spent the night changing back and forth between sleet and rain, and now it was drizzling. The dirt roads, though frozen, weren't bad yet, but the weatherman on the Atlanta station had predicted the mix to change completely over to freezing rain over the course of the day.

He opened the rear door, took out Flash, and walked gingerly up the already slick steps to the Sheriff's office. He was trying to balance Flash with one hand and fish his keys out of his pocket with the other and in doing nearly knocked over Amos Petersdorf who was standing outside the door.

"Amos, what in tarnation! You just about made me fall an' scuff Flash. Ain't you got better things t' do than stand outside the door?"

"Oh shut up, Rosco. If you can figure out how t' get th' door open, I got something t' tell you."

"What on earth would an' ol' ridge-runner like you need t' tell me at 6:30 in th' mornin'?" Rosco found his key and stuck it into the lock.

"I heard you were lookin' fer Andy Higgins...I know where you can find 'im."

* * *

"This is Rosco P. Coltrane calling the Duke farm, over. Jesse, Luke, Bo...anyone there? Over."

Jesse picked up the CB that sat on the kitchen counter. "This is Jesse, Rosco. What's goin' on?"

"Uh, Jesse, have you seen Enos by chance this mornin'? I can't reach him."

"No, we reckoned he'd stayed th' night over there. Th' boys ain't seen nor heard from him since yesterday."

"Well, if you see him, tell him him t' get his rear end over here, an' I mean _yesterday_. Someone here wants t' talk to him."

"Uh...sure Rosco, we'll see if we can hunt him up. Over an' out."

Jesse hurried out to the barn where Bo and Luke were working on getting the animals under shelter before the weather turned worse.

"Boys!" called Uncle Jesse. "Bo! Luke!"

The cousins ran out from the barn to see what the matter was. "What's wrong, Uncle Jesse?" asked Bo.

"You boys got any clue where Enos'd hole hisself up?"

Bo and Luke looked at each other and then back at their uncle, confused. "We figured Enos went back to th' Sheriff's office last night since we didn't see him."

"He ain't there. Rosco just called here lookin' for him. Says there's somebody wants t' talk to him."

Luke frowned. "Somethin' about Daisy, you reckon?"

Jesse shook his head. "I don't know, Luke, but you boys better see if you can find him, quick as you can."

Bo turned to Luke. "You think he'd have gone up to his ma's?"

"Naw, he'd rather sleep in his car than go _there_."

"You don't suppose..."

"It's the only place I can figure he'd go..."

The cousins hopped into the General Lee, spinning the wheels on the loose gravel of the farmyard.

It was just a short drive to Hazzard pond and Luke breathed a sigh of relief when Enos's Javelin came into view, resting above the muddy bank.

"Dang, Luke, it had t' get down to near 30 degrees last night. You mean t' tell me he slept out here?"

"Well, you did a mighty fine job o' runnin' him off, Bo."

"Look, I'm sorry, alright? I ain't used t' Enos takin' things so personally."

"He's always taken' _Daisy_ personally, Cuz." Luke pulled the General up behind Enos's car.

They climbed out and walked over to it. Luke opened the driver's side door, pushed the front seat forward, and gave the sleeping man's shoulder a shake. "Enos...Hey Enos, wake up!"

Enos sat up, disoriented. "Wha... where am I?" His memory slowly flooded back. He vaguely remembered climbing into the backseat of the car, listening to the rain on the roof. Surely he hadn't slept long, it had already been light in the sky last he knew.

"Take it easy, Enos," said Luke. "It's alright. Rosco's been tryin' t' get hold of you, though. Say's he's got someone down at the station who needs t' talk to ya'."

"Who is it, Luke?"

"I don't know, he didn't say. He just told Uncle Jesse he needed t' see ya right away."

Enos pulled himself into the front seat, picked up the CB, and turned it on. "Sheriff, this is Enos. Come in."

"Enos, you knuckle-head!" Rosco yelled. "Where in th' blue blazes have you been?"

"Sorry, Sheriff, I forgot t' turn the radio back on. What's goin on?"

"Amos Petersdorf's over here. He says he knows where Andy Higgins is."

"Possum on a gumbush! I'm on my way!"

* * *

The red clay of Hazzard's dirt roads didn't make for easy travel on rain, but they were even worse with the thin crust of ice that had already formed on top of the frozen ruts. It was all Enos could do to keep it between the ditches on the car's bald tires . It was a painfully slow pace, during which his heart and mind both seemed to be racing more than enough to make up for it. Amos Petersdorf was the elderly fire-chief of Hazzard, but more than that he was one of the Ridge Raiders. In his younger days, before he'd moved into the retirement home in town, he'd known most everything there was to know up in those hills.

The car's front tires lost traction again and he just managed to keep from loosing it. He picked up the CB. "Luke, Bo, this is Enos. Come in."

"We read ya', Enos," said Luke.

"Th' tires on this car ain't gonna get me there on Mill Road. I'm gonna cut down Sand Creek to Highway 20. I'll meet you in town."

"Roger that.."

Enos turned left at the next road. It was a couple miles out of the way to go south to Highway 20, but it should have already been sanded by the county, and he reckoned it was quicker than waiting for Jake to pull him out of a ditch.

He was nearly to the Sweetwater overpass when he passed the tiny General Store just outside of Hazzard. He did a double take behind him and skidded to a stop on the shoulder. Carefully he turned the car around and pulled into the store's gravel parking lot – right next to an early 80's white Chevy pickup. On the side of the truck was a sign for Rapahoe Telephone & Line Company and there was a steel frame of sorts rigged above the bed. A pole stretched across the frame, holding a myriad of spools of different wires and a huge roll of standard 24 gauge phone cord.

Enos felt as though he were moving through a dream, slowly, like his feet and hands were sunk in molasses as he opened his door and got out. He went to the back of the pickup and checked the license plate. _NYR 476._ He'd memorized the plate number of Andy's truck. Andy's was CGW 963, and this guy was a hell of a long way from home if he was supposed to be fixing lines in Rapahoe County.

He circled the vehicle, keeping an eye on the store in case anyone came out. The frame was easily removable, held in place by only six bolts, one at each corner, two in the middle. There were fresh scrape marks on several where they'd been tightened...or removed. The tires, supported by heavy duty leaf springs, were new - the heavy lugs coated with the area's red clay. He stopped by the door and peeled back the corner of the magnetic sign. The underneath was just as dirty as the rest of the truck.

The truck was the only vehicle parked there other than his and the owner, Silas's, truck around back, so he walked around to the front of the store and went in. A man he didn't recognize, in his mid 30's perhaps, tall, broad shouldered, with dark brown hair, was walking to the front to check out. Enos grabbed the quickest thing he could find, a packet of peanuts, and stepped to the register right before the other man.

He turned towards the stranger. "Probably have your work cut out for you later with the storm comin'," he said.

The man looked up at him blankly.

"With the telephone lines comin' down," Enos explained. He cast a glance at what the man was buying and saw it was a tarp and a roll of duct tape.

"Oh...yeah," the man answered thickly. His accent wasn't from anywhere in north Georgia.

Enos stuck his hand out. "I'm Enos."

The man grudgingly shook his hand. "Uh...Steve." Enos noted his hand was smooth, unused to the wear and tear of a telephone repairman.

"Pleased t' meet ya'. I used t' live around here, there sure are a lot o' new faces since then." He passed Silas a five dollar bill. "Thank ya' kindly, Silas, keep th' change," he said. He left and went back to his car before Steve could finish paying.

Enos's heart pounded as he waited for the man to return to his truck and tried to decide what he should do. On one hand there was Andy, the illusive pot grower who's truck Cooter had identified as the one on the surveillance tape. On the other was this stranger – a stranger who everything about screamed at Enos as being "off", with a nearly identical white pickup.

There was no way he'd be able to track down both before the storm hit. He had to make a choice, and he had to make it now and quickly. If he let this man drive off, he might never see him again, and if he'd been barking up the wrong tree with Andy, it could mean the difference between life and death for Daisy. Likewise, if he was reading more into this Steve guy than he should – he could just be passing through town on his way home, or a rookie at his job - and Andy _was_ the killer, someone needed to go with Amos and check him out.

There was only one thing he could do. As the man climbed in his truck and pulled out of the lot back onto Highway 20, heading east away from Hazzard, Enos pulled out after him and picked up his CB.

"Breaker, breaker...this is Georgia State Patrol calling Sheriff Coltrane. Don't say my name. Come in, over."

"This is Ros—co P. Coltrane. What'd'ya' do, ya' dipstick? Run off th' road or forget where you were going? Over."

"Sheriff... I need you to have Amos show you where Andy is. There's somethin' else I've gotta check out."

"What th' heck are you talkin' about? Where are you?"

"I can't talk right now, Sheriff, this is an open channel. I'm sorry, I've gotta go. I'm turning my radio off, but I'll get back with you later. Over and out."

* * *

"What th' heck was that all about, you suppose?" asked Bo, confused.

Rosco shook his head. "That boy's done cracked his head or somethin'."

"I don't know," said Luke. "It doesn't make any sense that Enos'd just bail when he finally knows where Andy is. Unless... Unless he knows somethin' we _don't_ know. Almost sounds like he's followin' somebody, not sayin' his name or where he is."

"What should we do?" Bo wasn't one to set around doing nothing.

"I guess we go find Andy," answered Luke. "Rosco, Amos, if ya' don't mind, we'd probably have better luck in sneakin' up on him in the General than in a patrol car."  
"Well," said Rosco, "Come on ya' lug-nuts, let's go cuff him an' stuff him!"

Amos directed them north through town down to where Ridge-Runner Road took off from Highway 20 to the east. This was an area that neither Bo nor Luke traveled often. Sure, they'd run up here a couple of times ahead of Rosco and Cletus, probably even Enos a time or two, but that was the extent of of their familiarity with it. They turned right off of Ridge Road, then right again and left, down roads that were hardly more than trails through the woods. Uncle Jesse was right, they didn't know half the roads up here in the hills, and the way Amos was leading them they'd already be lost for sure.

Everyone was silent, save for Amos telling them now and again where to turn, each haunted by their separate anxieties. If this was the man they were looking for, the one who had Daisy, her life could be riding on their shoulders.

* * *

The truck stayed on Highway 20 for a couple miles and then turned left up a dirt road. Enos followed it, far enough back so that he wasn't visible in the man's rear-view mirror around the curves. Luckily he didn't seem to be in much of a hurry and Enos was able to keep up while still keeping his car from sliding off the road. The truck crossed over the intersection at Mill Creek Road and continued straight, up Cedar Point Road into the mountains. Just about that time, the sky opened up and the freezing rain began to fall.

Enos cranked the heat up, aiming the blowers up at the windshield as the supercooled drops froze against the glass. For a heart stopping moment, he thought he'd lost the man until he saw the flash of brake lights in front of him. He turned off his headlights and sped up as much as he dared until he could see the faint outline of the truck. His gray, primer colored car would be nearly invisible in the downpour, but he'd have to stay close to keep up.

The longer he followed the man though, the more paranoia began to gnaw at him. What if he was following some poor, innocent guy to his home, all the while putting Daisy's fate in the others' hands? What if the man had spotted him and was just leading him on a wild goose chase through the mountains? If he went much further, he wouldn't be able to keep up. The roads were getting slicker by the minute as the ice began to build up on the roads. Dark thoughts spun through his mind, and he began to feel more and more as though he'd made a horrible mistake when the taillights flashed again in front of him, and the truck turned off to the right.

He stopped the car. The windows were so fogged he could barely tell where the road was, much less how far up in the mountains he was. He stepped out of the car into the downpour and looked around, trying to get his bearings. He recognized the landmarks and knew the road the man had taken was a dead end. There was only the old Johnson place up there – abandoned for a decade or more.

"I've got ya' now, Buddy Roe, _"_ he whispered triumphantly.

Enos climbed back into the car and threw it into reverse. He turned a quarter mile back where there was another trail that paralleled the one the pickup had followed. When he felt he was far enough down the road to be close to the old homestead, he pulled over. From here he could walk through the woods without anyone the wiser. He took his 9mm Smith and Wesson out of the glove compartment and strapped it on, feeling more secure with the handgun at his disposal than the less accurate shotgun which he was only a so-so shot with anyway. He put his coat back on and started through the woods.

* * *

Bo pulled the General Lee over where Amos had shown him. They were at the end of a long driveway of sorts, though the wilderness had caught an upper hand in devouring it. As it was, there was a muddy path made by tire treads through the dead grass which stood easily five feet tall to the sides of it. The rain pounding on the roof of the car made the surroundings seem all that much more desolate.

"We'd best go on foot from here boys," said Amos. "An there's bound t' be a few snares along th' way so stay close. Single file, down the path."

One by one they followed him down the trail. The rain had mixed with sleet and pelted them like tiny BB's as they made their way through the undergrowth, but the adrenaline pumping through each of them made it hardly noticeable. Rosco held his gun shakily out in front of him, and Luke carried the bow and arrows from the trunk of the General.

"Rosco," complained Bo, "would ya' put that dang pee-shooter down! Your libel t' hurt _us_ before we even see hide or hair of anyone else. I can't imagine anyone in their right mind would be out in this dang weather anyway."

"Would you just _hush_? You Dukes ain't got brains as big as a speck o' dust between ya'. Just stay outta my way an' you won't get hurt."

"Will you two pipe down," said Luke. "Rosco, Bo's right. Put that thing away before it goes off."

"Fine," complained the Sheriff, returning his gun to his holster, "you two can be cavalier and take th' lead. Better you get scuffed than me."

All their worry was for not, however, when they finally got to the end of the trail and the run down farmhouse that sat there. Rosco knocked several times on the door, but no one answered.

Luke peered into the window that looked in off the porch. "Rosco," he said, "try th' door."

"Now, Luke, that would be breaking and enterin'."

"Not if ya' have probable 'cause for doin' so."

Rosco turned the knob. It was unlocked, and he swung the door open to find Andy Higgins, asleep on a dirty cot with several beer cans scattered around him.

"Rosco, even _I_ think ya' might be able to take _him_ on and win," snickered Bo.

"Ooo, why you..." Rosco held up his fists. "I'll have you know that these were once considered deadly weapons."

"Thirty years ago..."

"Cut it out you two. Rosco, if you can wake Sleepin' Beauty up there and cuff him, me an' Bo are gonna have a look around." Luke motioned for Bo to follow him. The rest of the house was empty, but outside around the back was another story. Here an enormous greenhouse stood, protecting it's valuable commodity from the nasty winter of northern Georgia.

"Well," said Luke, "he's definitely growin' weed, but I don't see any signs of Daisy."

"Daisy!" yelled Bo. "Daisy!"

Luke shook his head. "She ain't here, Bo. We've got the wrong guy."

* * *

The white pick-up stopped by the old farmhouse. It's driver got out, leaving the door partially open despite the weather. His mind was elsewhere and not even the cold nor the pelting of freezing rain infringed upon his senses. His was one focus, though skewed and broken in it's relationship to reality.

 _Her._

It was time. This time would be better, it would take the voices away. The others had not been perfect, he reasoned, though he could not remember that he'd felt the same with each new girl he had taken. No, they were _flawed_...that was why the voices were still there, all night, every night, telling him that he must find another. That one had been too tall, this one too short, that one's hair too dark, this one had died too quickly. It had only been six days since he'd taken this woman, but in a distant part of his mind that still reasoned somewhat normally, Steven Wayne Fortner realized that if he did not kill her today, the weather would.

He went to the rear of the pickup and cut off a length of phone cord from the roll in the back. Never able to hold down a job for very long, the telephone repairman stint had lasted less than a week before he'd been fired. They were after him - jealous of his superior mind he'd supposed. He'd stolen the truck, though he hadn't thought much about it at the time.  
Eventually, spurred by the voices that had whispered in his mind since he was fourteen, an idea had gradually taken shape. His momma could make the voices stop. A woman who'd been dead some twenty years since, with her green eyes and brown hair. If he could find another to trade for his momma, she'd come back. A sacrifice – a life for a life – the voices had promised. He need only find the right one.  
He brought the extension ladder from around the side of the house. It was already the correct height, no need to fuss with it anymore. He dragged it over to the old well that stood in the clearing beyond the house.

The first few times it had been hard to get them out. Like an olive, he imagined, stuck at the bottom of the jar that wouldn't come out, that rolled around...and around... The first one he'd taken to throwing bricks at until she would agree to climb the ladder, but he'd hit her in the head and killed her instead before she'd ever given in. He hadn't dumped her body like he had the others, but kept it in his closet, wrapped in a tarp, as a reminder to be more careful. The next one he'd shown a hose and threatened to fill up the well. She'd come up willingly enough, but he'd taken it into his head to slice the hose in half since then, and now it wouldn't reach.

He'd bought another tarp for this one...just in case she was perfect...

He lowered the ladder down into the well where the woman looked up at him without saying a word.

"Climb the ladder," he told her. "Climb up backwards." He took the gun from the waistband of his pants and aimed it down and her.

"Okay, mister," she said calmly. "I will, just...put the gun away, please."

"Start climbing."

Daisy turned around and put her foot slowly on the bottom rung, leaning back against it for support.

"Faster."

One foot and then another, she climbed backwards up the ladder. When she was halfway up, the man stuck the gun back in his waistband and picked up the phone cord. Daisy had every intention of turning and trying to run when she got to the top, but as she came up over the side of the well the man looped the phone cord around her neck, effectively ending her escape plans. She was able to scream once before the cord tightened and cut off the sound.

* * *

For the rest of his life, Enos would be haunted by that moment and the memory of Daisy's scream ringing in his ears. He was nearly to the edge of the woods when he heard her and ran the rest of the way, stopping only when he reached the clearing. In slow motion, the scene played out in front of him, a nightmare that if he didn't act fast would turn into a reality from which he would never wake.

The man held Daisy in front of him, walking backwards, pulling her close against him by something around her neck. There was no time left for stealth, and even with the rain he knew the man would see him. Enos ran out from the cover of the trees, the rain stinging his eyes, and ducked behind the well. He drew his gun, and, using the well as cover, raised himself up just over the top of the stones, and trained it on the man.

"Let her go! Let her go or I'll shoot ya', an' ya' better believe I will, too!" Truth be told, Enos might have shot the man in the first place if he hadn't been holding Daisy in front of him. He'd never had any patience with those who put her in danger.

Daisy had been trying to pull the cord away, with little success. At the sound of Enos's voice, she looked up in surprise, her eyes wide with fright. "Enos..." she merely mouthed the word, unable to speak.

"You followed me," Steven said dully, stating it as a fact. He seemed unsurprised. "You need to leave now." The man transferred the cord to his left hand and with his right, pulled out a .22 caliber revolver from behind Daisy and aimed it at Enos.

When Enos had been on the SWAT team in L.A., they'd always tried to talk the person down first and use force as a last resort, but he knew, even if he'd wanted to, he didn't have time for that. Daisy could hardly breathe and if the man happened to pull the cord any tighter, she'd be in even worse trouble. The problem was he didn't have a shot, the man was using her as a shield. Enos needed him to turn or to move Daisy, one or the other.

He picked up a medium sized stone that lay on the ground beside him. The ground sloped down slightly on his side of the well, making him at a lower angle that he needed to be. He would have to stand up to have any chance at all of hitting him without hurting Daisy. It would make him vulnerable and give the man a clear shot at himself, but that was a risk he would just have to take. He only hoped this guy wasn't as good a shot as he was.

" _Lord, please let this work..."_

He chucked the rock as hard as he could behind and to the right of the man, into the woods. As it ricocheted through the leaves, the man's concentration faltered and he turned slightly, moving Daisy out of Enos's line of fire. He stood and took aim, but in doing so caught the man's attention and Steven swung his gun back up towards Enos.

Two shots rang out through the hills...


	11. Avenging Angel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  _Two shots rang out through the hills..._

_Two shots rang out through the hills..._

* * *

The first, a .22 caliber bullet, tore through Enos Strate's left shoulder. The second, a 9mm, caught Steven Wayne Fortner between the eyes. The man dropped the gun and Daisy and fell to the ground.

Enos didn't give the man a second glance, but holstered his weapon and ran to where Daisy knelt on the ground, a bewildered expression on her face.

"Daisy..."

He reached out gingerly and touched her shoulder, half afraid that she was only a dream that would vanish into the air, but needing to make sure she was alright. She said nothing, but turned to Enos and threw her arms around him, holding on for dear life. He could feel her shaking and held her to him, thanking God that he'd found her alive. The minutes slipped by until finally she began calm.

He would have gladly stayed there as long as she needed to, save for two things. First, he didn't want her to have to see the man he'd shot, whose pale eyes now stared up at heaven (though Enos figured he was knockin' on a different door right about now), and second, they were gonna freeze to death if they didn't get out of the weather. He was relieved that she still had her coat, he reckoned she wouldn't have lasted through last night if she hadn't.

The rain continued to fall, making a strange and eerie sound as it struck the trees and ground and froze, slowly building layer upon layer of ice. If it had been under different circumstances, he would have thought it beautiful as the woods evolved from the muddy, decaying leaves and stark branches of winter into a glittering crystal wonderland. As it was, it would be a beautiful way to die if they didn't get out of it.

He pulled back slightly, "Daisy, we've gotta get you outta here. Can you stand?"

"I think so."

Enos stood slowly, helping her up, but she swayed and lost her balance. He caught her before she could fall and picked her up in his arms, wincing at the strain on his injured shoulder.

"My car's not far. Just through the woods. Hold on okay, I promise I won't drop ya'."

She simply nodded and it struck him that this might have been the first time he'd ever seen her speechless. He had no way of knowing what had happened to her over the last six days, but he tried to keep his mind focused on putting one step in front of the other instead of the possibilities.

They reached his car and he let her down by the passenger's side door, then opened it for her and waited for her to climb in. He shut it and went around to the driver's side, noticing the ice on the windshield as he got in. It wasn't as thick as on the rest of the car since the windows had been warm when he'd parked, but it was still going to take a couple minutes to melt. He started the car and fiddled with the knobs until he found the defrost and turned up the heat as far as it would go.

"We'll have t' wait until the windshield clears off a bit." He turned to face her, concern etched on his face. "Daisy, he...did he... _hurt_ you?"

She saw him flush slightly and caught the meaning behind his simple words. "No," she said, softly. "He just left me down there 'till today. I'm fine, just cold and hungry."

Enos, remembering his visit to the General Store, reached in his pocket and took out the peanuts he'd bought. "Sorry, it's all I've got, but you're welcome to them," he said, handing them to her.

Daisy, now over the worse of her fright, was watching him with keen eyes. "Enos," she said, quietly, "what are you doin' here?"

He cast her a quick glance, and then looked away. "I reckon I'm trying t' take ya' back home. I'm just here temporary, with the Georgia State Police. I was the only one who knew the area." If he'd been looking at her, he might have caught the flash of disappointment that crossed her face, but he wasn't.

"Oh," she said, simply. Neither said anything for a minute, until she spoke again. "Well I'm mighty glad you found me. Thank you."

He nodded, still not looking at her. "You're welcome, Daisy." He turned on the windshield wipers. A large sheet of partially melted ice caught on the blades and slid off the glass, giving them a view of the road. He started the car and drove slowly to the end of the trail but then stopped the car, got out and walked into the intersection with Cedar Point Road. Daisy could see him muttering something to himself as he stood looking down the road.

Enos turned around and got back in the car, not looking pleased.

"What's wrong? Is that Cedar Point? Cedar Point runs into Mill Creek Road."

"I know the way, Daisy," he said, more sharply than he meant to. "That's not the problem."

"So...what's the problem?"

The road was impassible - at least in _his_ car. They were fifteen miles into the mountains and there was no way they'd get down safely until the ice melted some. If they hit a ditch on the way down, there wasn't enough gas in the car to keep it warm until someone found them. There was only one place he could think to go, but as much as he wanted to make sure Daisy was safe and warm... he didn't want to be alone with her.

Daisy was one of those people who always felt the need to 'set things straight'. If she thought she'd done or said something to hurt someone, she wouldn't rest until she'd talked to them about it. Talking to Daisy about what had happened four years ago ranked somewhere below getting his wisdom teeth cut out and moving in with his ma' on Enos's lists of things he wanted to do. It was one thing to know she had never really loved him, but it was quite another to actually hear it coming from her lips. If he could get out of this and back to L.A. without having to have his heart re-broken, he'd be content to just know she was safe.

Daisy waited for him to answer, but he seemed to be lost in his thoughts, staring out the window. She touched his arm and he flinched, then shook his head.

"Sorry, did you say something?"

"Enos, what's...," a drop of dark liquid fell from the cuff of his coat sleeve and landed on the leg of his jeans where an alarmingly large stain had begun to form. "Enos, you're bleeding!

"Yeah, I know. It'll be fine for a little while. Small caliber, probably went right through."

"But..we've got to get you to the hospital!"

He turned to look at her. "Daisy, we're not goin' t' be able to get back t' Hazzard right now, th' road's too bad."

She rubbed at the fog on the window, trying to see outside. "We can't just stay here."

He closed his eyes and sighed. "I know a place we can go. Lake Chickamahony's about five miles up th' road. As far as I know, Lulu still owns th' cabin that Mr. Hogg had there."

"Well, let's go check it out then."

He pulled the car out, turning right, towards the border of Choctaw County and the lake.

Five miles might have been twenty-five at the pace Enos had to set to get there safely. Daisy had been mercifully quiet as he concentrated on the road, barely crawling around the curves. It was afternoon by the time they pulled up in front of the small cabin, nestled on the southern bank of Lake Chickamahony. Daisy got out and ran up to the porch and tried the door, but it was locked. Enos followed her up.

"Now, there used t' be a key around here somewhere's. I had t' bring Mr. Hogg out here once t' get some papers." Lord only knew what kind of scheme he'd been unknowingly helping with at the time. Enos tipped back both of the dead potted plants that flanked the door and then the mat, but nothing.

"This what you're lookin' for?' asked Daisy. She held one of the decorative knobs from the porch railing in one hand, and in the other hand she held up a key.

"Yeah, that's looks like it." She handed it to him, and he unlocked the door and swung it open.

The cabin was nothing special, certainly not on the scale usually befitting Jefferson Davis Hogg, but as far as Enos knew he'd never actually stayed there. Boss kept it mainly as a bribe for other county officials, and he doubted if it had been used since the man had passed away two years ago. The electricity had been shut off, but it had a rock fireplace that warmed the main living area, small bedroom, and bath, and a tiny kitchen with a propane cook stove. There would be no running water since the pump for the well wouldn't work without electricity, but there was a hand pump outside to the rear of the cabin.

"We'd best try t' start a fire," said Enos. There was luckily a large stack of firewood next to the fireplace and a box of strike-anywhere matches and an oil lamp sat on the mantle.

"I'll see if I can find any kindling," said Daisy. "Though that wood looks about old and dry enough t' burn itself."

Enos had already stacked a couple of logs in the fireplace when she came back with her hands full of paper towels.

"All I could find," she said, handing them to him.

"Those'll work fine, Daisy, thanks."

In no time they had a roaring fire and the cabin was nice and cozy. Daisy took off her coat and threw it over the back of the couch that sat in front of the fireplace. Enos tried to take his off as well, but the sleeve hooked his shoulder and he hissed in pain.

"Here," Daisy pulled the right sleeve of his coat off and then eased the left one off. Her breath caught as she saw that his entire left sleeve was soaked in blood.

"It's not as bad as it looks," he assured her.

She helped him with his shoulder holster next, setting it carefully down on the end table by the couch, then moved in front of him and started to unbutton his shirt, but he stepped back, out of her reach. "I'm not an invalid, Daisy." He turned away from her to hide his blush and began to unbutton his shirt. "There might be some alcohol or a First Aid kit here somewhere. It'll be better than nothin'."

She checked everywhere in vain for a First Aid kit, and had to settle with the only acceptable substitute she could find – a clean, white, cotton shirt and a jug of moonshine she found stashed under the bed. She carried them, as well as a pair of scissors she'd found to cut the shirt, back into the living room and found Enos sitting on the couch in front of the fireplace, staring into the flames. His sleeveless undershirt had managed to escape most of the blood from his arm and he held his stained shirt to his shoulder to put pressure on it.

"Well, I found alcohol...sort of," she said, holding up the jug. "Uncle Jesse always said it could be used for medicinal purposes."

"Well, I guess it'll do," he laughed nervously. "I never figured a little hole could bleed so dang much."

"Um, this'll probably be easier if you lie down."

He looked apprehensively at the moonshine. "I don't reckon easy's gonna factor much in t' this, Daisy," he said uncomfortably. "I think I need a drink o' that."

She passed him the shine. He opened the jug and raised it to his mouth, and took a sip. He frowned and took another, then closed the bottle and shook it watching the bubbles dissipate immediately. "Wouldn't that just figure..," he said, disgusted.

"What?" Daisy couldn't imagine what the problem was.

"Mr. Hogg stocked his cabin with backin's."

"What're backins?"

"It's the stuff left in th' thump keg after th' second run. Might as well be water than shine."

"Sorry... I didn't see anything else."

He shrugged. "That's okay, Daisy, I don't s'pose it's gonna hurt nothin. Just use it t' clean the wound first." He lay down on the floor so she could bind his shoulder.

She knelt down on the rug beside him, but her eyes were drawn to his right shoulder instead where a ugly white scar ran from underneath his shirt nearly the entire length of his arm. He knew what she was looking at and he closed his eyes and willed himself not to feel her touching him as her fingers gently traced the line.

"What happened?" she asked, quietly.

He frowned and looked back up at her. "I learned a lesson..."

The double meaning of his words wasn't' lost on her and she glanced away from him, not knowing what to say.

"Ya' know, on second thought, hand me that pillow."

She grabbed the pillow from the couch and handed it to him. Instead of putting it under his head, though, he covered his face with it. "Okay," he said in a muffled voice, "go ahead."

Daisy poured the whiskey over the gunshot wound in his deltoid. Muffled yelling came from under the pillow as he clutched it to his face and some backwoods words that would pass as cursing, at least coming from Enos.

"I'm sorry! Gosh, I'm sorry, Enos..."

He threw the pillow aside and looked up at her, red faced and watery eyed. "That's alright. Just get it over with."

She cut several long strips off the shirt and tied them together before wrapping them around his shoulder and upper arm as best she could. "Well, I'm no Florence Nightingale, but I think it'll be okay."

He sat up and inspected her handiwork. "Better than I could do, I'm much obliged."

She was quiet, and he looked up to find her watching him intently. "We need to talk," she said, quietly.

Enos, hoping to keep his sanity for at least one more day, wasn't about to delve into that snake hole right now. Just in the little time they'd been together, the last four years seemed like a bad dream he was finally waking up from, and he felt himself falling into the same old trap that he'd worked so unsuccessfully to pull himself out of.

"I don't want t' talk, Daisy," he said. "I'm tired, I ain't slept in a week it feels like. Why don't you look around, see if there's anything else we might need."

She hesitated, stalled by her conscience which had been screaming at her since he'd left Hazzard nearly four years ago to set things right. "Okay," she said, finally. "You get some rest then. I'll see what I can come up with." Of course he wouldn't want to talk to her. He probably _hated_ her – and who would blame him after what she'd done? She couldn't imagine how hard it must have been for him to have to come back to Georgia to look for her, the last person he'd probably ever want to see.

Wandering back into the bedroom, she found another white button-up shirt, which she exchanged for the shirt she'd been wearing for nearly a week, but she was stuck with the jeans she had on. The cabinets in the kitchen contained a box of raw spaghetti noodles, a stack of saltines which she grabbed, and a couple of cans of Pork n' Beans.

Daisy went back in the living room to find Enos fast asleep on the couch, and she went over and knelt beside him.

"I don't blame you for not wantin' to talk to me," she said, gently, "but I really am sorry."

She pressed a soft kiss to his temple, and he stirred and rolled over onto his right side, facing towards her. Instead of getting up, she propped her head up on her elbow on the couch beside him, watching him sleep as the firelight danced across his face.

"I don't even know what I'd tell you anyway. It's like one of those horrible 'B' movies Boss used to buy cheap and show in his theater. The ones where you feel like askin' for your money back afterwards 'cause nothing ended up like it should've. After everything's said and done, all it comes down to is that I married a man I didn't love 'cause I could never figure out how to say it to the one I did."

She brushed his hair lightly back from his forehead.

"I can't stop thinkin' that none of this would've happened if I'd told you the truth - and I don't mean four years ago. I should've told you _twenty_ years ago, when you were at the Academy. But havin' you around was always more important to me than you knowing how much I loved you. I know I made a terrible mistake, and that you think you never meant anything to me, but you'd be wrong. I _do_ love you, Enos Strate, and all I've wanted since you left was for you to come back home again."

* * *

She could have slept in the bedroom, but instead Daisy brought a pillow and quilt in and lay down on the rug, half convinced Enos would be gone in the morning if she didn't. It was ridiculous, they were just as stuck here as they'd been before, but she'd spent too many sleepless nights wondering where he was and what he was doing to let him out of her sight. The rain had stopped some time since, but now the wind howled across the frozen landscape and keened softly through the cracks in the window casings.

A thousand moments, each bittersweet in the fact that they were from a time that was forever lost to her, ran through her mind as she lay staring up at the ceiling. Memories of nothing more than being together - her rambling on and on, and him content to just listen. He always had something to say, but unlike her, he seemed to be able to say in one sentence what it would take her an hour to explain, and she'd lay in bed at night deciphering his hidden meanings – because there always seemed to be one.

And in everything, there was regret. She missed the easy banter they used to share growing up. He had been her confidant, her best friend - but all that had ended right before her 16th birthday...

He'd come home from the Academy to get away from Atlanta, and they'd spent the day fishing with her cousins. Luke and Bo had given up early, leaving her and Enos alone by Hazzard Pond. She couldn't even remember what they'd been talking about, all she knew was that he was leaving in the morning, going back to the Academy and in all likelihood it would be another month, maybe two before he could catch another ride up to Hazzard. As they talked, she came up with a plan...

" _Enos, have you ever kissed a girl?"_

Daisy closed her eyes, remembering. She'd played it off as nothing, never giving a second thought to the consequences of that day, but in return for a stolen kiss, she'd lost her best friend. He'd never been comfortable around her after that, and though they'd made up some of the ground they'd lost in the years after he came back from California, the closeness they'd shared growing up was always just out of reach.

She'd passed her flirting off as nothing, afraid (regardless of how Enos thought he felt towards her) that it would scare him away again. The day they almost got married, she'd hidden her feelings so well that no one had believed it was what she really wanted, least of all Uncle Jesse, Bo, and Luke.

She had a feeling Enos had snookered her with the hives excuse, and a sneaking suspicion that he was just trying to give himself an out and had finally come to his senses. After all, what man would want to marry a woman who had never even said she loved him?

So she'd married L.D., thinking for some crazy reason that the best thing would be to make Enos give up on her. No one told her he'd left Hazzard until the damage had already been done, and she found herself married to a man she didn't love and hardly knew, while the one she did walked out of her life forever...or so she'd thought.


	12. One Step Forward

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hours after Daisy had finally drifted off to sleep, Enos got up and lit the oil lamp that had been stored on the mantle. Something wasn't right. His head felt like there were huge boulders rolling around inside of it and his shoulder throbbed and burned like hot coals. He took the lamp into the bathroom, hoping to find aspirin in the medicine cabinet, but it was empty, and the kitchen didn't have any either. There was no water to drink, only watered down moonshine. He sat the lamp down, found a small glass, and poured some from the jug. He took a drink and grimaced, not because it had a bite, but because it had the distinct flavor of pond water that tasted like it might have been stored in an old rubber tire.

Hours after Daisy had finally drifted off to sleep, Enos got up and lit the oil lamp that had been stored on the mantle. Something wasn't right. His head felt like there were huge boulders rolling around inside of it and his shoulder throbbed and burned like hot coals. He took the lamp into the bathroom, hoping to find aspirin in the medicine cabinet, but it was empty, and the kitchen didn't have any either. There was no water to drink, only watered down moonshine. He sat the lamp down, found a small glass, and poured some from the jug. He took a drink and grimaced, not because it had a bite, but because it had the distinct flavor of pond water that tasted like it might have been stored in an old rubber tire.

"Gosh, that's bad," he whispered. It was just as well that it wasn't a higher proof anyway, he'd never trusted himself to drink much around Daisy, even if it _was_ for medicinal purposes. He might say something he didn't intend to say.

Enos finished the glass and went back into the living room, frowning when he noticed Daisy sleeping on the floor. He knelt down beside her and watched her for a moment.

"Sweet dreams, Daisy Duke," he whispered before returning to the couch. His headache was worse since standing up and walking around, almost blinding in it's intensity, and his ears rang slightly. It was a long time before he slept.

* * *

Across the mountains, a solitary lamp burned in the window of the Duke farmhouse off Mill Road. After they'd found Andy and brought him, Rosco, and Amos back to town, Bo and Luke had made the slow, treacherous drive back through the country roads of Hazzard county. It was late, but no one felt like sleeping, and a feeling of dread hung like a black shroud over the family.

There had been no word from Enos. He'd disappeared into the storm without another word other than his last cryptic transmission, and every attempt to contact him had been met with static. Rosco, more subdued than either of the cousins had ever seen him, had even managed to keep his insults to a minimum, promising them that he would keep trying to reach Enos and that he would stay at the station overnight – just in case the power went out since the courthouse had a generator.

For now the electricity and phones were still on, though the lights had flickered a time or two. Uncle Jesse had done all the prayin' he could think of to do on that behalf as well as the others. They could rig the CB up to a car battery, but as far as they knew, Enos was somewhere up in the hills and most of that area was out of range of the radios anyway.

Eventually Bo and Luke fell asleep where they'd been sitting, but Jesse stayed awake. Visions of Daisy as a child filled his mind. He and her late Aunt Lavinia were the only family she could remember, her parents passing away in a car accident when she was only six months old. It had taken some getting used to at first, raising a girl, but Daisy had a way of capturing everyone's heart who knew her, and his broke to think of his little girl out there somewhere in danger.

* * *

The sun streaming through the window filled the tiny cabin with light and woke Daisy, and she got up and looked out the window over the frozen lake. Everything exposed to the elements was encased in ice. The branches of the pine trees, burdened with the extra weight, dipped to the ground and several larger ones from the tops had snapped off and lay scattered underneath. Just looking at the cold outside made her shiver and she threw another log on the fire for good measure.

She turned towards the couch where Enos was still sleeping and frowned. His hair was drenched with sweat. She went over to him and put her hand on his forehead. He was burning up.

She shook him gently. "Enos, Enos wake up."

He opened his eyes and squinted up at her. "I don't feel so good," he whispered. "It's freezing in here."

"It's not cold in here, Enos, you've got a fever." She looked at the bandage on his arm. "You want me t' see how it is?"

He nodded and she gently untied the knot she'd made in the bandage and unwrapped it. He didn't need to ask how it looked, her eyes told him enough.

"Guess weak moonshine ain't a very good disinfectant," he murmured before closing his eyes again.

"Hey, I don't think you should go t' sleep." Daisy shook him gently again, but got no response. "Enos? Please wake up."

"I'm awake," he mumbled, without opening his eyes.

She tried to think about what to do. The roads were impassible and she'd never be able to get them back to Hazzard right now. They were out of CB range to Hazzard here in the mountains as well, so she wouldn't be able to get through to anyone she knew. Lake Chickamahony was in Choctaw County anyway, so...

"Choctaw County," she whispered to herself. She was out of range for Hazzard, but Choctaw was half that distance away.

"Enos, where are your keys?"

"Hmm um, can't leave...too slick. I'm fine, Daisy, just tired."

"You're _not_ fine! I'm not leavin', I'm just gonna see if I can get a hold of anyone in Choctaw. I need your keys, though."

"In my coat."

Daisy picked up his coat and felt in the pockets until she found them.

"I'll be right back," she said as she put on her coat and opened the door. She walked slowly to the car, nearly slipping twice despite the fact she only had about 20 feet to cover. The door was frozen shut on the driver's side where the wind had blown the worst of the rain, but she was able to open the passenger's side after beating around the door frame to loosen the ice. She slipped across to the driver's seat, started the car, and turned the CB on.

"Breaker, breaker, this is Daisy Duke calling th' Choctaw County Sheriff's Department. Anyone out there? Over."

There was only static on the line. She waited for a minute, and tried again.

"This is Daisy Duke calling Choctaw County Sheriff's Department. Please, if anyone's out there, pickup. Over."

Again, there was nothing. She was about to turn off the car and go back inside when the CB came to life and a faint voice broke the silence.

"This is Choctaw County Sheriff Dewey Wilkes. Daisy, can ya' hear me? We've been lookin' all over for you, girl! Are you okay? Over,"

"Dewey! It sure is good t' hear your voice. Listen, I'm fine, but me an' Enos are stuck up here at Lake Chickamahony, and we need t' get out. He got shot in the arm and he doesn't look real good."

"I read you loud n' clear, Daisy. Don't you worry, you two just sit tight an' I'll get hold of th' State Patrol. We'll have ya' outta there in a jiffy. What about the guy who had ya'? Over."

"Thanks Dewey. I won't be around th' radio, but I'll keep my eyes out. The guy who took me's dead, Enos shot him. Over."

"Roger that. Over an' out."

She turned off the car and went back inside.

"I got hold of Dewey, Enos. He said he's gonna get in touch with the State Patrol and they'd..."

Enos was sitting up on the couch, his head in his hands. Daisy sat down beside him. It worried her, seeing how run down and defeated he looked, unlike the perpetually happy man she remembered. She wanted more than anything to throw her arms around him and tell him everything would be okay, but she dared not. She was still lost in her thoughts when he spoke, and what he said was so unexpected, she nearly asked him to say it again.

"Daisy," he said, wearily looking up at her, "I know it sounds terribly improper of me, but would you mind if I borrowed your shoulder?"

Her heart nearly lept out of her chest. "No, that's... that's fine, Enos. Here, wait...," she backed up into the corner of the couch and put the pillow in her lap. "Turn around and lean back against me."

He did as she told him, leaning back, resting half on her and half on the pillow. She had nowhere to put her arm other than around him. "I'm sorry, Daisy. Thank you, kindly," he mumbled and closed his eyes.

"You just rest. Someone's gonna be here for us soon." He didn't answer and she felt him gradually relax and fall back asleep. The heat from his fever radiated through her, and she wished she'd left that extra log off the fire. His uncharacteristic physical closeness, though not unwelcome, concerned her. He must be worse off than she'd originally thought, or else the fever had addled his brains - she wasn't sure which she should be hoping for. Daisy rested her head against the back of the couch and, lulled by the warmth, fell asleep.

* * *

Dewey Wilkes hung up the CB, smiled, and shook his head. Somehow, through the worst storm these parts had seen in thirty years, Enos Strate had managed to save Daisy Duke. He picked up the phone and dialed the Georgia State Patrol, letting them know that their detective had been wounded while taking down the Tri-County Strangler. They were more than happy to provide assistance. His next call was to the switchboard in Hazzard County.

* * *

The phone ringing woke Bo and Luke with a start, and they both struggled to their feet, but Uncle Jesse motioned for them to wait.

"Now, just calm down you two,an' let me get it. Our luck it's prob'ly a wrong number." He got up and went to the phone and picked it up. Bo and Luke followed behind him, hoping to decipher what it was about from the one sided conversation.

"Hello?"

"Mornin' t' you, too, Sheriff Wilkes. What can I do for ya'?"

There was a long pause before Jesse spoke again. "How bad?"

"Okay."

"Well thank ya' for calling, Dewey, much obliged. You have yourself a good day, ya' hear?"

"Alright then...Bye." He turned to the cousins, a bewildered expression on his face.

"Well?" asked Bo. "What goin' on?"

Luke was silent. A phone call from the Choctaw County Sheriff either meant really bad news or really good news. By the expression on his Uncle's face, he was hoping for the good news.

"He found her," he said simply. He stared into space for a moment, unable to process the news he'd just heard.

"Who, _Enos_?" Luke asked. His uncle seemed to not hear him, so Luke shook him gently by the shoulder. "Uncle Jesse, are you alright?"

His Uncle snapped out of his reverie and looked over at his nephews, laughing with relief. "What d' ya know? He did it. That boy followed some guy up into th' mountains in th' middle of a storm and found her."

Bo let out a 'whoop' of happiness. "Luke, remind me t' never doubt Enos again."

Luke shook his head in amazement. "You got that right, cuz."

Uncle Jesse's face clouded. "Well, now, you boys better still be doing some prayin'. I guess th' guy got off a shot at him. Don't know where he was hit, but Dewey said th' State Patrol was gonna air lift him t' Atlanta."

"Atlanta? Luke wouldn't they just take him t' Capitol City if it weren't serious?" asked Bo.

"Not necessarily with th' weather," answered Luke. "Uncle Jesse, did Dewey happen t' say anything about th' other guy?"

"He did," Jesse replied, gravely. "Enos shot him dead."

* * *

A sound invaded Daisy's dreamless sleep, and she woke with a start, confused at first by the weight resting against her. Enos was still sleeping, and still overly warm, but his fever wasn't as alarmingly high as it had been before. An unnatural throbbing noise seemed to vibrate gently through the cabin. As she sat listening, trying to pinpoint what it could be, the sound grew louder and the vibrations more apparent until she realized that she was hearing a helicopter - and that it was landing just outside the cabin. Shortly afterwards there was a knock on the door.

"Ms. Duke, are you in there?" called a voice from behind the door.

She lifted Enos and the pillow up enough that she could slip out from under them and went and opened the door to the police officer who waited there.

He removed his hat and nodded a greeting to her. "Howdy, ma'am. I'm Sergeant Collins with the Georgia State Patrol. I'm t' transport you and Detective Strate to th' hospital in Atlanta."

"Oh..," her attention was on the helicopter instead of him and she almost missed what he said "Oh! Of course. Come in. I'll try t' wake him up."

"I'm sorry, we're kinda unprepared for a medical rescue. They called for Life-Flight from Grady, but they're stretched pretty thin with all the accidents on th' ice. I can help ya' if you need, ma'am."

"Thanks, his fever's not as high as it was. He's been out for a while, so hopefully he'll feel better." She knelt by Enos, reminding herself not to shake him by the shoulder, and patted his cheek lightly. "Enos...Enos, wake up. "

"Cow," he mumbled. "C...O...W..."

Daisy grinned, wondering what in the world he could be dreaming of. "Enos, wake up."

He opened his eyes, and looked around, confused until they focused on her. "Oh, hey Daisy!" he said dreamily. "Say... did you know that there are more cows in the state of Wisconsin than there are people?"

She laughed and shook her head "How are ya' feeling?"

"Well...other than feelin' like someone shot me in th' shoulder and then pounded my head in with a meat tenderizer, I guess I feel just fine." He grinned weakly back at her and sat up.

"This here's Sergeant Collins. He's gonna take us to th' hospital in Atlanta. They'll get you fixed up good as new in no time."

He stood up slowly and between leaning on Daisy and Sergeant Collins, they made their way out across the ice to the helicopter. Enos and Daisy climbed into the back seat and the sergeant climbed into the front passenger's seat.

Enos looked around with wide eyes while they took off, the cold helping to clear his head. "Wow," he said, with a nervous laugh. "I always wanted to ride th' copter with SWAT, but never got to. Guess I never thought I'd ride in th' Georgia Patrol one."

"This here's Chester," the Sergeant told them, beating his fist affectionately on the wall of the chopper. "He's our pot-watcher."

"It's a what?" asked Daisy.

"We call him a pot-watcher. From the air, you can tell a plot of marijuana by it's blueish-green color so we take th' chopper out in the summers and survey th' more rural parts of th' state. Cover quite a large area like that... Oh, I almost forgot. Did you have your keys, Detective? I'll send someone to come and pick up your car. Where would you like them to take it?"

"I'm much obliged, sir." He felt in his coat pocket for them.

"I still have them, Enos." Daisy fished them out of her coat pocket and handed them to Collins.

"I guess, if you don't mind, sir, just take it to Jake's on th' square in Hazzard."

"No problem, we'll get it taken care of. An' if you're th' one who found th' Tri-County killer we've been lookin' for, you can just call me Fred."

He stuck his hand out and Enos shook it. "Enos."

"Now, I know you're not really feelin' up t' yer peak, Enos, but I'm gonna have to ask you some questions 'bout that," he said, pulling out a small pocket notebook and flipping it open.

"That's okay," he replied. "I know how it works. He's dead, by th' way. Up off Cedar Point Road about fifteen miles and to th' right. It's the ol' Johnson place, but there ain't no road names, so you'll have t' get Sheriff Coltrane to take ya' there."

"Did you see what kind of gun he had?"

"It was a .22 caliber revolver, I didn't see th' make."

"And yours?"

"A 9mm Smith and Wesson. Shoot! It's on the table in the cabin."

"That's okay, when they pick up your car I'll have them pick that up as well. We'll have t' do ballistics on it anyway, just to cross our 't's" an' dot our "i's". If you could just run down how ya' found him, I'll put it in my report, though you'll probably get sick an' tired of tellin' your story by th' time everyone who thinks they've gotta know it is satisfied."

Enos ran through a short explanation of how they'd seen a truck on the surveillance tape matching the suspect's and of how they ran down a wrong trail for a while chasing Andy.

"Higgin's is his name?" asked the Sergeant. He flipped to a different page in his notebook, and read for a minute before continuing. "He jumped bail down in Calhoun County. Went home again, huh? Feds'll be happy t' see him again. So how did ya' end up findin' this other guy?"

"Well, that was purely Providence, I reckon," said Enos. "If m' tires hadn't of been so dang worn down, I would've taken Mill Road into Hazzard instead of Highway 20. There was a truck parked at Silas's General Store when I passed that matched the description so I turned around an' checked it out. I followed that guy and radioed to th' Sheriff t' go ahead and have th' informant show him where Andy was."

The Sergeant was impressed. "Nice work, detective. Two wanted men in one day, sure wish you were on our regular payroll."

"Shucks," said Enos, brushing the praise aside, "I can't hardly take credit for either of 'em. Th' Sheriff went after Andy, an' I just got lucky findin' the real killer."

Daisy couldn't sit by and be silent any longer. "Enos Strate, that's not true! Why you followed that man up th' mountains through an' ice storm, and if you hadn't, I wouldn't be here! You saved my life, and I won't sit here an' let you not take credit for it."

"I was just doin' my job, Daisy," he said, solemnly. His eyes met hers for a moment, though, and in them she saw the trace of pride that he couldn't quite conceal.

Enos explained the rest of what had happened to Sergeant Collins from the time the man had turned off towards the Johnson place until they'd arrived at the cabin.

"You're lucky you had someplace close to go," said Collins. "We've got people everywhere in th' ditches. You'd of never made it down th' mountain. 'Course it's s'posed to warm up in th' morning. They're sayin' 60's and 70's by th' middle of next week. Go figure...if ya' don't like th' weather in Georgia, wait five minutes and it'll change."

"That'll be nice," said Enos, "I guess I've gotten soft livin' in California. I sure don't miss th' winters here."

"Speakin' of California, what division you in out there? I had a friend who was with the Valley Bureau, out in North Hollywood."

"Never worked with Valley. I was on the Metro squad with the SWAT team for almost two years, an' I've been two years with the Robbery/Homicide division as a detective."

"Wow. Bet that looks good on a resume'. Say, that must've been a big move – Hazzard County t' Los Angeles. What made ya' go there?"

Daisy held her breath, waiting for his reply, but he answered easily.

"Oh, I don't know...things just changed, I guess."

Collins didn't miss the way Daisy paled and looked away. There was a long history between these two, he surmised, and he wouldn't be surprised if she'd had something to do with the detective's departure from her actions. They seemed to be drawn together, like magnets, each leaning from their seats towards each other until their shoulders were nearly touching.

Enos's quick eyes didn't miss the glance the man shot between himself and Daisy. He sat back into his seat, nonchalantly widening the distance between them.

"Time t' move on, huh?" asked the officer. "I hear ya'. I was with Camden County as a deputy for ten years 'fore I got tired of sittin' out in th' woods waitin' for a speeder t' come through."

"No kiddin?" Enos laughed. "Yeah, I remember them days. Seems like another life-time ago."

They were approaching the greater Atlanta area now, and miles upon miles of sprawling suburbia stretched out around them. Daisy could never imagine herself living in such a place - of course she couldn't imagine Enos living there either, and Los Angeles was over twice the size of Atlanta.

The pilot communicated something to someone via the radio and in a couple minutes they circled a huge building which read 'Grady Memorial Hospital'.

"When we set down, the staff'll come and get you," said Sergeant Collins. "Ms. Duke, they'll need to run some tests on you as well, make sure you're okay. We'll need you t' give your side of the story, but that can wait until you're settled. Th' state's pickin' up th' tab for you, too, so order th' good food."

The chopper set down on the helipad where a number of people in white coats waited nearby.

Enos leaned over towards Daisy. "They're gonna stick me fulla them ding-dang needles. I can see it in their beady little eyes already," he whispered, nervously fidgeting with his hands.

"Oh Enos, you'll be fine."

"You'll check in on me in th' mornin' and make sure, won't ya'?"

She grinned. "I'll sneak you in some buttermilk."

He laughed and flashed her a smile before the door opened and organized chaos descended on them both as the medical staff whisked them away in separate directions.


	13. Elephant in the Room

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Daisy rested on a bed behind a curtain in what she assumed was some sort of low priority area of the emergency room since no one had come to check on her in at least an hour. She was stuck here, at least until they figured out what to do with her. After a quick check up and blood draw, the doctor on staff had insisted that she have an I.V. to rehydrate her after her ordeal. That's what he'd called it..." _her ordeal"._

Daisy rested on a bed behind a curtain in what she assumed was some sort of low priority area of the emergency room since no one had come to check on her in at least an hour. She was stuck here, at least until they figured out what to do with her. After a quick check up and blood draw, the doctor on staff had insisted that she have an I.V. to rehydrate her after her ordeal. That's what he'd called it..." _her ordeal"._

Apparently she was some odd sort of minor celebrity here – the one who got away from the Tri-County Strangler, she'd overheard a nurse say to someone outside the curtain. The forced isolation gave her more than enough time to think about what had happened versus what _might_ have happened. From Enos's telling of the story, him finding her was nothing short of a miraculous shot in the dark, like some avenging angel coming to her rescue. She wished she'd been allowed to stay with him when they'd taken him away.

A nurse finally came through the curtain and removed the I.V., telling her that the doctor wanted to keep her overnight for observation since her iron levels were low. "We'll take another reading after you eat breakfast and lunch tomorrow," she said, bringing a wheelchair up to the side of the bed. "Now, I know you're probably feeling just fine, especially after that glucose drip, but I have to take you up to your room in this anyway."

Daisy slid off the bed. "That's okay," she said as she took a seat.

The nurse took in Daisy's oversized shirt and mud-stained pants. "Would you like me to find you something to change into?"

"Oh, that would be wonderful," said Daisy.

"I'm going to take you up past the maternity ward first. We always have some plain scrubs that we keep around for the moms who forget their bags. I'm sure we can find you something."

They made the rounds up through the hospital, stopping in the maternity ward where they found Daisy a set of pink scrubs for her to take with her, and then eventually to her room.

"I'll leave you here then," said the nurse, "but if you need anything, just hit the call button on the bed."

"There's one thing, ma'am."

"What's that, Ms. Duke?"

"Is there any chance you could find out how the person they brought in with me is doing? Detective Enos Strate? "

The nurse smiled, knowingly. "I'll check for you. I won't be able to tell you much because of the privacy issues, but I'll see what I can do." She left, closing the door behind her.

As much as Daisy longed for a shower and clean clothes, there was one thing she had to do first. She picked up the phone, took a deep breath, and dialed home.

"Hello?" Uncle Jesse answered.

Her tears surprised her, but hearing her uncle's voice on the line suddenly made the reality of everything come crashing down on her. "Uncle Jesse?" Her voice cracked. "Uncle Jesse, it's Daisy."

"Daisy... " There was nothing for a moment, then she heard him clear his throat, and she knew his eyes weren't dry either. "Thank th' Lord. I ain't never heard a sweeter voice in all my days, girl."

"I'm sorry, Uncle Jesse," she cried, "I never meant t' worry y'all so. I should'a been more careful, I should'a let Luke go with me, I..."

"...Daisy, Daisy, Daisy," he soothed. "Ain't nothin' that you ought t' be apologizin' for. You're safe an' sound now, an' that's all that's important."

"I almost wasn't, Uncle Jesse. If Enos'd gotten there a minute later, I _wouldn't_ have been, an' I just can't bear thinkin' about that."

"Well then, we just won't think about it. He _did_ get there in time. An' I'm sorry, Daisy. I'd like nothin' better than t' be there right now, but we've got t' wait 'till the sun's up. It's s'posed to be in th' 40's come mornin' and we'll be able to get through on th' roads."

"Oh no, I don't want y'all drivin' here at night. Atlanta's so darn big, and it'd just be too dangerous. They've got me in a room here anyhow, and I promised Enos I'd find him in th' mornin'."

"Okay, well, that's good. We'll leave first thing then."

"I love ya', Uncle Jesse. Send Bo an' Luke my love, too."

"I will. We love you, too, Daisy. We'll see ya' tomorrow."

"Okay. Bye then."

"Bye, honey."

* * *

Two hours later, Daisy had showered, changed, eaten, and given up on finding anything decent to watch on television. The nurse came in again and told her all that had been going on with Enos. Apparently the doctor thought his fever had been exacerbated by being run down and not having slept well in quite a while, and the infection with the gunshot wound wasn't bad. They'd given him a sedative to help him sleep and put him on antibiotics.

The nurse gave her a confused look. "If you don't mind me asking, are you and Detective Strate...close, Ms. Duke?"

Daisy wasn't sure why she was asking, or exactly what she meant by _close_. "We grew up together. He's always been close to my family. Why?"

"Well, I wouldn't been able to tell you anything about him, but he put your name down as having permission to access his medical records. Guess _he_ thinks you're close."

Daisy shrugged. "He's only got his mom left for immediate family, but I don't think she'd bother comin' down. He's closer to my uncle than he is her anyhow."

"Oh, okay...well, I know it's probably not very professional and none of my business, but I just wondered. You know how gossip goes around, safer to ask instead of believing everything you hear."

"Gossip?" Daisy frowned. "What kind of gossip?"

"Uh..."

"Oh, good gracious!" complained Daisy. "Ya' already asked me about him, the least you can do is finish th' story."

"It's nothing really, just one of nurses on staff, her sister works for the State Patrol. She said that he called in a favor to get assigned to your case even though he's a detective in California. It's just making people wonder, that's all."

"Not many people know the area I was in better than himself. Enos knew that. I wouldn't read too much into it."

"Well, you're one lucky woman, that's all I can say. Wish I had a guardian angel looking out for _me_ somewhere. Listen, I've got to finish my rounds, but page the nurse's station if you need anything."

"Thanks," said Daisy, absently, as the nurse shut the door behind her.

She didn't have time to think about what the nurse had told her. As soon as she'd gone there was another knock on the door.

"Come in," called Daisy.

The door opened to reveal a middle-aged, blond haired, woman in a khaki dress suit. "Ms. Duke, hi. I'm Detective Shaw. Would it be okay if I asked you a couple questions right now?"

"Oh, sure, no problem."

The woman closed the door behind her, pulled a chair over to where Daisy sat on the bed. "I won't take too much of your time, Ms. Duke, I just need to get a few facts from you and then I'll leave you alone."

"Please, call me Daisy."

"Well, Daisy, why don't you just tell me what happened starting from when you left the bank."

"Okay, well, I went in to pay th' mortgage money before th' bank closed up for th' weekend, so I'd say it was about 4:00. I got back in my Jeep and headed home up Mill Road when a truck came up behind me and ran off th' road."

"The truck, did you see what it looked like?"

"It was white, I didn't have time t' notice much else about it."

"Okay, you said he ran you off the road, what happened then?"

"Well, I tried to back up, but I was in a ditch and I was just spinnin' my wheels. I thought he was just a crazy drunk until I saw him comin' down the bank towards me. I didn't know him, an'...well... he gave me creeps."

"How so?"

"His face...no...I don't know. He just seemed...out of place, and he kept mumblin' somethin'. I didn't give him a chance to say anything to me. I figured if he was just comin' down there to apologize, I'd rather just take a raincheck on it, if ya' know what I mean. There was a trail that led back through the brush and I figured I'd just hide in there 'till he left, but he started running after me. I was almost to th' bank goin' back up to Snake Trail Road, but I tripped. That's about all I remember before I woke up at the bottom of the well."

"He never took you out until yesterday?"

Daisy shook her head. "No. he'd come by an' look down at me every couple hours or so, but he never let me out."

"Did you ever hear him say his name or where he was from?"

"No, when he'd throw food in to me he'd never talk. En...Detective Strate probably remembers more than I do from that point."

Detective Shaw finished jotting down a few more notes and then looked back up at Daisy and smiled. "Well, I think that's about all I need for right now, so I'll let you rest. Someone will probably be in touch with you in the next few days to have you sign a statement," she said, standing up and placing the chair back against the wall. "If you remember anything else that you think might be important, this is my name and my extension at this number." She handed a card to Daisy. "Thank you for your time, Ms. Duke."

Daisy nodded to her as she left, and then got up and closed the door again. It was dark outside, so she turned the lights off and went over to the window. Downtown Atlanta was crowded with traffic, mostly people going home from work she guessed. She watched the lights change from red to green, then back to yellow and then red. Pattern upon pattern, on and on and on forever, and long after she stopped paying attention to them, nothing would change.

Enos had changed - she'd seen glimpses of it over the last 24 hours. He had gone out into that big world without a safety net, to sink or swim, and he'd learned to survive. Beyond that, she could only guess at.

* * *

The clock in the room said 6:10 am when Daisy woke, a force of habit from living all her life on a farm. Even when she was sick she couldn't seem to sleep past seven. Last night, she had looked forward to the morning, but as day broke, she realized she still needed to say something to Enos about what had happened four years ago. She couldn't just let him go forever wondering why she'd done what she'd done. The problem was, the reasons she gave everyone else were nothing but excuses, and the real reason sounded about as phony as a three dollar bill.

That aside, she'd promised him she'd look in on him this morning...she'd also promised him buttermilk, which oddly enough turned out to be a bigger chore than she'd thought. Apparently it wasn't in high demand from patients so it wasn't on the menu. The nurse on the morning shift didn't even know what it was. She took the meal card the night shift nurse had given her in case she wanted to go down to the cafeteria, signed out at the nurses station, and went in search of it. It took a bit of charm to convince the head cook, but she finally ended up with some.

She took a deep breath before knocking on the door of room 317, then turned the handle and peeked in.

"Hey, Daisy!" Enos called. "You can stop hidin' behind th' door now."

She opened the door and came in, shutting it behind her. "How did you know it was me?"

"'Cause nurses don't generally crack open people's doors t' make sure they're decent first."

"I was only bein' polite," she laughed. "Hey, I got ya' somethin'" She sat the Styrofoam drink cup down in front of him.

"Tell me this is what I hope it is." He lifted the lid and took a sip. "How in th' world did ya' manage t' find buttermilk? They acted like I was a couple marbles short when I asked for some."

"Now Enos," she chided him, "you've just gotta know who t' talk to. I got it from the head cook in th' cafeteria."

He took a drink and set the cup on the table beside the bed out of his way. "You sure do have a way with people, Daisy," he said good naturedly.

She frowned at his comment and changed the subject. "So how's your shoulder?" It was bandaged and his arm held in place by a sling.

"It'll be fine. Only problem is they done trussed me up in one o' these ding-dang hospital gowns first an' now I can't escape until they give me m' clothes back."

"I know where you can get some nice pretty scrubs like mine."

"Pretty is as pretty makes," he teased. "Don't think they'd look quite th' same on me. Hunt me up some blue ones an' I'll take 'em."

"I'll let you know if I find some."

Daisy went over to the window and opened the heavy drapes that covered it, letting the light spill into the room. She turned away from him, watching the street down below for several minutes while he finished his buttermilk.

"I don't know how anyone could stand to live in a big city," she said. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she couldn't believe she'd said them. She turned around to find Enos watching her solemnly. "Enos...I didn't mean...I didn't think about..."

"It's okay, Daisy," he said, casually, in a voice that his eyes didn't quite mirror. "It just takes time to get used to is all."

Daisy knew it was now or never to bring up what she'd dreaded talking about. If she didn't say something, she'd loose her nerve. She left the window and went over and took a seat on the side of his bed. "Enos," she began, "I..I really need t' talk to..."

"Daisy..."

"...you about what..."

"Daisy!"

"...happ..."

Enos leaned forward and put his fingers over her lips. " _Stop_ , Daisy," he said, gently, noticing her blush at his touch. "I know you probably want t' talk about that about as much as I want t' hear about it." He took his hand down and she started to turn away, but he caught her arm. "Wait now, I didn't say I didn't want to _talk_ to ya'. Just...can we talk about somethin' else?"

She turned back to him. "What do ya' want t' talk about?"

"Well, how about you tell me all th' gossip I've missed about everyone in Hazzard... _'cept_ for you an' me?"

She flashed him a radiant smile. "Gosh, where do ya' want me t' start?"

"Well, start with Bo an' Luke. We were all too worried 'bout findin' you t' talk about what they've been doin'. Are they still tryin' for the NASCAR curcuit?"

"Oh, goodness no," she said, rolling her eyes. "They finally came to their senses about that. Ain't no use wastin' time waitin' around for that t' happen. 'Sides, they started th' races back up again at th' Hazzard dirt track on Saturday nights."

"Possum on a gum-bush! I sure remember them days. Ain't nobody raced there for fifteen years."

"Yeah, well, I think they needed somethin' t' take their minds off of gettin' older. Otherwise, Luke's got him a job part-time with th' Central City Fire Department three days a week. It's not much, but it's a foot in th' door."

"That's great! Wow...Luke a firefighter, huh? What about Bo? What's he been up to?"

"Now Bo's th' surprisin' one," she said. "Who would'a thought he'd decide he actually _likes_ farmin'? He's been takin' over a lot of Uncle Jesse's work, and I think he's pretty serious about keepin' up the place."

Enos laughed. "Farmin'? Bo? Well, I guess ya' never can say never, 'course I think Cooter goin' to Washington pretty much takes th' cake on that account."

"I know! Can you believe it? Cooter wearin' a suit everyday, hob-nobbin' with all th' rich and powerful?"

The day stretched on past lunch time as they sat and talked about everyone they could think of to talk about...except themselves. As much as both had craved the attention of the other, and their banter honest and friendly, the unspoken still stretched out between them like a giant chasm. There was something behind Enos's eyes, a depth of emotion that Daisy couldn't quite decipher, and it bothered her that she couldn't put her finger on what it was.

"Hey, Daisy. It's been swell talkin' to ya' an all," he said, finally, "but you'd better get on back to your room before someone comes lookin' for ya'."

"Enos Strate, are you tryin' t' get rid of me?" she teased.

Instead of laughing as she thought he would, he eyes met hers. "Never," he answered simply.

Her heart skipped a beat, but before she had a chance to think of a reply there was a knock at the door.

"Come in," they said in unison.

The door opened and Uncle Jesse, Bo, and Luke walked in.

"Uncle Jesse!" Daisy hopped up and ran to him.

He hugged her to him. "Daisy, you sure are a sight for sore eyes, girl." He held her back at arms length. "Let me look at ya'...are ya' okay?"

"I'm fine, Uncle Jesse, 'specially now that all of y'all are here." She turned and gave Luke and Bo each a bear hug in turn.

"We're mighty glad t' have you back safe an' sound," said Luke.

"Yeah," said Bo, "Luke 'bout poisoned us with his cookin'."

She hit him playfully on the arm. "Bo Duke, you're awful."

"We went t' your room first," said Jesse, "but th' nurses said they hadn't see ya' since breakfast. We figured we might find ya' here." He walked over to Enos. "We heard what ya' did, son. I reckon we wouldn't be standing here with Daisy if it warn't for you."

Bo and Luke came over beside their uncle. "He ain't kiddin'," said Luke. "I don't rightly know what t' say 'cept we've got your back if ya' ever need it."

"Thanks Luke, Uncle Jesse."

"Enos," said Bo, "I sure do owe you an apology."

He held out his hand and Enos shook it. "If I recall, Bo, I owe you one, too. How's your jaw?"

"Just a little sore," he said, rubbing at it.

"Okay, y'all," complained Daisy, "I'm obviously outta th' loop here. What happened between you two?"

"It wasn't nothin', just a misunderstandin'," Enos said. Daisy didn't miss the look he shot to Bo, though. Clearly it was something he didn't want to talk about. She made a mental note to ask her cousin about it later.

"Oh, hey Daisy, we brought you some clothes," said Luke. "Unless you're partial to pink scrubs now."

"Not on your life," she laughed.

Both cousins threw an arm around her shoulders and wheeled her out the door before she had even had a chance to say good-bye to Enos. Uncle Jesse stayed back with him after they left.

"How's th' arm, son?"

"Not as bad as they've got it all gussied up for. It was just a .22, didn't hit nothin' important."

Jesse nodded. "I wanted t' thank ya, too, without them t' hear," he motioned towards the empty doorway, "for doin'...what ya' had t' do."

Enos looked down from Jesse's gaze. "I was just doin' my job, Uncle Jesse," he said, quietly. "I didn't set out for it to end that way."

"Even so," said the older man, setting his hand on Enos's uninjured shoulder, "we're in your debt. An' Dukes have long memories. There's ever anything you need, Enos..."

"Thank you kindly, Uncle Jesse."

Uncle Jesse patted his shoulder. "You take care of yourself, son," he told him, before walking out the door to find the others.


	14. His Father's Son

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When the doctor finally let Enos out of the hospital two days later, Rosco insisted on picking him up and taking him to Jake's so he could pick up his car. The sheriff was happier than anyone could remember seeing him – not only did Rosco get to flaunt it that he'd arrested a wanted fugitive, but Enos had apparently told whoever was in charge of those kind of things that Rosco, Bo, Luke, and Amos were the ones who were responsible for the capture of Andy Higgins. Turned out there was a sizable reward out for it and split four ways still left each of them with $5000. Rumor had it that Amos's son had a nice new still set up somewhere in the hills. Bo and Luke donated most of theirs to the mortgage on the farm.

When the doctor finally let Enos out of the hospital two days later, Rosco insisted on picking him up and taking him to Jake's so he could pick up his car. The sheriff was happier than anyone could remember seeing him – not only did Rosco get to flaunt it that he'd arrested a wanted fugitive, but Enos had apparently told whoever was in charge of those kind of things that Rosco, Bo, Luke, and Amos were the ones who were responsible for the capture of Andy Higgins. Turned out there was a sizable reward out for it and split four ways still left each of them with $5000. Rumor had it that Amos's son had a nice new still set up somewhere in the hills. Bo and Luke donated most of theirs to the mortgage on the farm.

Jake had offered to let Enos stay in the loft above the garage free of charge while he was there, but Uncle Jesse had refused to hear of it.

"Ya' ain't packin' up yer bags just so you can stay where ya' got no one t' talk to besides Rosco an' Cletus," he'd told him. "'If ya' think you're bein' a burden, you can always go out an' do some chores in th' mornin' t' set your mind at ease."

So Enos had agreed to stay at the farm, at least until he had to go back to California. He'd never said when that was, some obscure date that floated out in the future. Daisy had decided to just forget about whenever that was for now and spend as much time around him as she could...without appearing to. She'd never had a problem hiding her feelings for him from anyone before, but whether it was the circumstances that had brought them both together again, or just that she'd missed him so terribly over the last four years, she couldn't seem to stand to stay away from him.

* * *

Enos put on his coat, which Daisy had cleaned and mended for him, grabbed a cup of coffee and then headed out the door – purposefully letting the screen door bang shut behind him. He needed to go up Capitol City and pay off his ma's mortgage this morning before he forgot and she lost the house. Walking slowly, he started counting to 10.

"1..2...3...4...5...6..."

"Hey Enos, where ya' goin'?" called Daisy from the doorway.

He grinned and turned around. "I've gotta go up t' Capitol City to pay my mom's mortgage before she has t' move in with _you_."

She laughed. "Don't let me stop ya'."

He rested his arms on the roof of the car before getting in. "You wanna go with me? I sure could use th' company."

"Sure thing, I don't have t' go back in to work 'till Monday. Hold on an' let me grab my coat." She whisked back through the door and grabbed her coat from her room. As she was leaving, she passed Uncle Jesse sitting in the living room and back-tracked.

"Hey Uncle Jesse, I'll be back after while, I'm gonna go with Enos up to Capitol City," she said, kissing her uncle's cheek.

"Uh...alright," he said, surprised, but Daisy was already gone. He heard the 'thunk' of the front door as it closed behind her. "Somethin' odd goin' on with that girl lately," he murmured to himself.

"Hey, thanks for comin' with me, Daisy" said Enos after she'd gotten in. "I'm probably gonna need your help at th' bank anyhow."

Daisy couldn't understand why he'd need her help. "At the bank? What for?"

"Oh...you'll see. I've been sendin' my ma' money to pay th' mortgage for three years now, and all she did with it was bury it in th' backyard."

"Oh no..." She was well accustomed to his mother's eccentricities.

He shot her a sideways glance. "There's 14 cannin' jars in the trunk."

The clock on the courthouse read shortly after ten o'clock when they finally pulled up in front of the Capitol City Savings & Loan. Enos and Daisy got out and went around to the trunk. He sighed and popped it open. There were 14 jars, all quart sized and stuffed with cash.

"You weren't kiddin'," said Daisy, incredulous. "How much you reckon there is?"

Enos shrugged. "I'm not sure, all I know is that I sent her enough over th' last couple years to pay off what my pa' owed."

Daisy took off her coat and used it as a sling to carry some, and Enos did the same with his. Between the two of them, they managed to carry all 14 jars of money into the bank in one trip. The teller wasn't too keen on counting it all by herself and called over two of the junior tellers to help her. It took three tellers over twenty minutes to count it all, but after all was said and sifted, the total came to $36, 451.42.

Daisy was floored. "Enos, that's...that's _a lot_ of money."

"Yeah, but that was over three years."

"Still..."

He brushed it off. "Inflation's higher in California, so ya' get paid a lot, but it doesn't go very far. Believe me, it wouldn't look like much out there."

"Mr. Strate," said the teller, looking up from the logbook she had been searching through, "the mortgage on the property and house for Otis and Agnes Strate is only $13,450. Would you like to start an account with the rest?"

"Oh... No, I don't live around here anymore. I guess ya' can just put what ya' don't need back in th' jars," he said. "Um...maybe in bigger bills than one's an' five's, though, if you've got 'em."

"Are you sure you wouldn't like a cashier's check, sir?"

Enos shook his head. "My ma's a little suspicious of checks. If you can just leave it in cash, I'd be mighty obliged."

"What are ya' gonna do with it?" whispered Daisy.

He shrugged. "I reckon I'll give it back to my ma'. It's her money, she can bury in th' yard again for all I care."

The teller handed him three of the jars back. "Here you go, sir, $23,001.42, and a receipt for the mortgage payment. They'll have to mail the deed to your mother. Do you want the other jars back?"

"No, I reckon you can keep 'em. Thank you kindly, ma'am." He turned to Daisy. "Come on, let's grab an early lunch somewhere. My ma's buyin'."

* * *

"Where th' heck did Daisy run off to?" complained Bo, as he searched through the fridge for lunch.

Uncle Jesse looked up from his sandwich. "What's eat'n you? Daisy ain't normally home this time o' th' day anyhow."

"Yeah but she usually makes sandwiches 'fore she heads off t' work in th' mornin'." He took the leftover ham out from the night before.

"You know, son, it ain't your cousin's job t' feed your face. She just does it outta th' love of her heart. 'Sides, she went off somewhere's with Enos this mornin'."

"Enos! You know, I swear she hadn't let him outta her sight since he got back," he griped. "It ain't like he's gonna fall apart or nothin'. Heck, his arm don't even seem hurt no more."

"Maybe that ain't what she thinks needs fixin'," answered Uncle Jesse, quietly.

Bo looked up from the bread he was slicing. "Now what's _that_ supposed t' mean?"

Uncle Jesse shook his head. Bo wouldn't understand, and even if it were true, he didn't think Daisy would appreciate him explaining it to him. "Nothin'. Fix yer lunch, then you can help me with that gate over on the north end."

Bo sighed. "Yes sir."

* * *

Enos pulled the car off Highway 20 onto the unpaved Morgan Lane, which ran alongside the old airfield. He grinned as the tires spun and then caught on the loose gravel. It reminded him of all the Saturdays spent racing on the dirt-track when he was younger. He'd been a pretty decent driver, but his cars were never anything but old beaters...nothing like this car could be. Sure, it looked like a hunk of junk from the outside, but whoever had rebuilt the Javelin's engine had known what they were doing. He glanced over at Daisy with a look in his eyes that reminded her of when they were kids, planning out some sort of mischief.

"Think I should see how fast she'll go?"

She looked at him warily. "As much fun as that sounds, Rosco's favorite speed trap's right up where this meets Mill Road, an' you know he'll give you a ticket."

"He's gotta catch me first. Buckle up, Daisy, "

She laughed and buckled her seat belt. "You're somethin' else, Enos, you know that?"

He gunned it all the way to Mill Road, but instead of stopping, he downshifted and swung around the corner. The car skidded and then took off. The road was nice and straight here and he was doing nearly 65 on the hardpack when when he passed the Sheriff. Rosco flipped on his lights and siren and pulled out behind him. Enos didn't slow down, but led the patrol car through the turns on Mill Road, gradually pulling away.

"We'll go around Stillson Canyon an' loose him on th' backside," he told her.

The CB came to life with the Sheriff's voice. "Enos? Enos I know that's your mangy ol' junk-heap I'm a-chasin'. You pull it over right now, boy, or I'm gonna cuff ya' an' stuff ya'!"

Daisy picked up the CB. "Hey there, Rosco'" she said, happily. "I always knew Enos was a better driver than you were."

"Daisy Duke! Ooo...you...Enos, pull that car over or you're in deep sheep-dip!"

Enos just laughed.

"Bye Rosco!" Daisy hung the CB back up and turned around to watch Rosco.

Enos hung a left at Stillson Road. "How far back is he?"

"Oh, a quarter mile easy. You've got plenty of time."

"Okay, around the next corner, hold on," he said. "Bo and Luke always used to disappear on me through here an' it took me forever till I figured out where they went."

He rounded the corner at the top of the canyon where the forest was deepest, and slammed on the brakes. Throwing it in reverse, he backed up onto an old road, obscured by the overgrowth. Ten seconds later, Rosco's patrol car came speeding around the corner and kept on going as they laughed. Enos pulled out and went back the way he'd come until he reached Mill Road. He turned left in the direction of the Duke farm, but driving the speed limit.

"Daisy...are you in an awful hurry t' get back? Would you mind if we took a detour first?"

"No, I don't have t' be back for a while before I start supper. That is unless you want t' eat Luke's cookin'," she teased.

"Now come on, Daisy, he's libel t' make ya' wish _I_ was cookin'."

"Enos, you can't boil water."

He scowled at her. "I'll have you know I learned how t' do that. I can also heat soup outta th' can now."

"Well, you've surpassed Bo's culinary skills then," she laughed.

She was about to ask where he wanted to go, but then he turned right onto the road that led to Hazzard Pond. It was the last place she would have expected him to go – a place that she knew held more memories for the both of them than she could count. If anywhere would feel like coming home for him, it would be here. Enos pulled the car up to the bank and cut the engine.

Like a typical Georgia February, the temperature which had hovered in the lower 40's that morning was now in the 70's. Small patches of ice at the base of the trees, sheltered in the shade and the cooler air near the water, were all that remained of the storm which had wreaked havoc the week before.

Enos threw his coat back in the car beside Daisy's, and scooped up a handful of pebbles from the bank before joining her where she sat on the hood. He handed her half of them and they sat together, unspeaking, as one by one they tossed them out into the water.

If he closed his eyes, he could imagine they were kids again, sitting in the sun throwing rocks into Hazzard Pond, a ritual they'd once overlooked as nothing but wasting time. Just the two of them - before everything had gone to hell in a hand-basket.

"Why'd you do it?" she asked, breaking the silence of his daydream.

He frowned, not understanding. "Why'd I do what?"

"Why'd you want Rosco t' chase you?"

"I don't know, Daisy," he said, shrugging. "Why not?" He threw the last of his pebbles as far out as he could.

"It's just...you've always been such a stickler about the law, that's all."

He didn't answer, but sat looking out over the pond, and minutes passed before he spoke again.

"Did I ever tell you 'bout th' time Rosco almost caught me runnin' shine on th' way back to the Academy?"

"Yeah, I remember. With Dewey an' some other guy. You were drivin', though, it wasn't like you had a choice except t' run from him."

Enos shook his head. "That's the story...but that ain't what really happened."

She eyed him suspiciously. "What do you mean?"

"Rosco wasn't anywhere near us. We could'a gotten t' ol' man Tillson's easy. But, well...I wanted t' know what it felt like - to do what my pa' had done. Just once."

"You mean...you picked up Rosco _on purpose_?" That was so far removed from the Enos she'd always known, she didn't even know what to think.

"The other guy's didn't know hide from hair up there in them parts, they never knew I back-tracked."

Daisy was dumbfounded. "You never told me that."

He looked down at his hands, fidgeting nervously. "I never told anyone...mostly 'cause of how much it scared me."

"Being chased by the police?"

Enos looked back up at her. "No...it scared me 'cause I _loved_ it."

There was no doubt in Daisy's mind that he was telling the truth. His eyes took on a far away look as he relived the memory. Gradually, they focused again, though not on her face, but on an errant strand of her hair. Unthinkingly he brushed it back from her face, his fingers slowly following the length of it.

"You know what Bo an' Luke used t' say to me when I got hired on as a deputy? They used t' ask me how come I was on th' wrong side of th' law when I knew good an' well my daddy'd been a moonshiner like every one else up in th' hills."

"Oh, now, Enos, you know they they didn't mean any harm by it. They were just joshin' you was all."

"I know that, Daisy. Thing is," he said, "there _is_ a part of me that's on that other side. I'm th' son of a ridge-runner, and as much as I used to want to believe it, no badge is ever gonna take that part away." His hand moved from where it absently toyed with her hair, to gently cup the side of her face. "No matter how far away I run, there are some things that will always be a part of me..."

He pulled her closer to him, and her breath caught as she realized he was going to kiss her. As the thought raced through her mind, he stopped – only an inch away, and snatched his hand away from her face. He sat back, obviously surprised by what he'd almost done.

"Gosh, I'm...I'm sorry, Daisy." He shook his head slightly, as if clearing away the remainder of whatever had possessed him, and jumped down off the car. "Come on, we'd better get back unless we wanna eat Luke's cookin'."

He shot her a grin, but Daisy could only stare back. She slid down from the hood, shell-shocked and confused. The ghost of a memory from long ago swirled around her – of 17 year old Enos, looking up at her from from the shore as she climbed the bank, with eyes full of confused passion. As she got into the car, she thought she knew how he must have felt that day.

Five minutes later, they pulled up in front of the farmhouse. Enos hopped out, greeting Bo who was working on something under the hood of the General, as though nothing in the world had almost happened. It was nearly enough to make Daisy question her sanity and wonder if she'd just imagined the whole thing.

She was so distracted, she nearly ruined supper. It was saved only by Uncle Jesse's quick hands taking the skillet from her and moving it off the burner.

"Daisy, you alright?" he asked. "You're actin' like ya' ain't here at all."

"I'm sorry, Uncle Jesse," she said. "I'm fine, just tired, I guess."

He narrowed his eyes at her, knowing well enough an excuse when he heard one. "You sure? You ain't been yourself since ya' got back."

"No, I'm okay. Would ya' call th' guys for supper for me?"

"Yeah, I'll hunt 'em up."

"Thanks, Uncle Jesse."

It was the strangest meal she could ever remember sitting through. Enos, Bo, and Luke were talking about the Hazzard dirt-track, laughing and reminiscing over races and wrecks they'd had growing up. Uncle Jesse even joined in, reminding them that he'd won more races there than any of them had ever run...back when he was young and stupid, to which Bo commented he didn't know they _had_ cars back then.

Daisy felt like the odd duck. She had no heart to join in and instead sat, watching Enos out of the corner of her eye, wondering how he act so all-fired normal. As dinner wound down to a close, it suddenly struck her that their roles had somehow reversed. _He_ was the one who was supposed to be sitting shyly at the table while _she_ rattled on about something. An idea, one that threatened to shed light on everything that had ever happened between them, began to take shape in her mind.

"Ain't that right, Daisy?"

Her eyes snapped up to meet Enos's and she realized she hadn't heard a word of what he'd been saying to her.

"Sorry, what?" she asked him.

Bo whistled at her. "Yoo hoo, hello... Daisy, if I didn't see ya' sittin' here, I'd swear you'd gotten lost somewhere's out yonder," he said, gesturing at the door.

"I'm sorry, y'all. I think I'm gonna turn in." She got up and left the table. The sound of her bedroom door closing echoed through the house.

"Wonder what's gotten into her?" asked Luke.

Bo shrugged. "Darned if I know. Prob'ly just one o' those woman things."

Enos said nothing. Today it had all seemed so clear again, almost as though the day itself had been drenched in sepia tones of the past. He'd gotten caught up in his own reminiscing, though, and in real life he'd played out his dream unawares, coming to his senses only just in time. His fingers ached with the memory of touching her, and it had taken all the will he could muster to let her go and walk away. If there were to be a second time, he didn't trust himself to stop again. He knew the time had come to make a decision. It had to be done sooner or later, and sooner would be infinitely easier than later.

* * *

Long after everyone else had gone to bed, Daisy sat at her window, looking out over the barren winter field. What had started off as a flicker of insight at supper had grown to an astral, and the clarity of that light illuminated everything that had ever happened between the two of them. If he'd been anyone else, any other guy, she would have put his actions down as designed to teach her a well deserved and cruel lesson. It was _Enos_ , though, and Enos had never had a vengeful bone in his whole body - except when someone had threatened _her_ safety, her conscience duly noted.  
Unintended or not, Daisy finally understood how he must have felt all those years she'd played with his heart, never acting like any of it meant anything to her. Still, he'd come back - time and time again, a glutton for more punishment at her hands.

His actions today had shown her something else as well. When he hadn't been thinking about what he was doing, there had been no hesitation in his touch, none of the former insecurity he had always shown around her. After 20 years, she finally realized that his reticence towards her was not because he was innately shy about such things... he just had no earthly idea what she was playing at. Yet, ever since that morning he'd slept in her arms at the cabin, something had changed. There was a bond between them that she thought had once been lost forever. She'd caught him watching her a couple of times, not in the same manner that most of the guys down at the Boar's Nest watched her, but with a perceptiveness that made her uneasy. She couldn't shake the feeling that at times Enos saw right through her, down to her very soul.

She'd never known anyone like him, and never would again. Even after she'd left him without a word and married L.D (and the magnitude of that she couldn't bear to think about), he'd come across the country to rescue her.

He still loved her.

" _He still loves me...,"_ she whispered, incredulous, into the night.

And yet, she was about to let him go, about to let him leave her again, and she knew the next time he'd never come back.

" _He loves me...and I love him."_

Tomorrow, come hell or high water, rain, sleet, snow, ice, or any other disaster she could think of, she would tell him. After 20 years of her breaking his heart, Enos Strate would finally know that Daisy Duke loved him.


	15. Best Laid Plans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dawn rose over the little farmhouse in Eastern Hazzard County like it did every other morning. It wasn't a holiday, it was no one's birthday, it wasn't even a 'Sunday morning 'go-t'-meetin'-day', but Daisy climbed out of bed with a feeling of anticipation like a kid on Christmas morning, dressed, and went to the kitchen to start breakfast.

Dawn rose over the little farmhouse in Eastern Hazzard County like it did every other morning. It wasn't a holiday, it was no one's birthday, it wasn't even a 'Sunday morning 'go-t'-meetin'-day', but Daisy climbed out of bed with a feeling of anticipation like a kid on Christmas morning, dressed, and went to the kitchen to start breakfast.

"Mornin', Uncle Jesse," she said, happily.

"Mornin' Daisy," he answered. "Feelin' better?"

She'd forgot she had left supper in a foul mood. "Yes sir, nothin' a good night sleep didn't cure."

Bo and Luke stumbled in, bleary eyed as usual. "Mornin' fella's. Ya' know, y'all should go t' bed earlier if you're gonna look that worse for wear this early."

Luke shot a sour look at Bo. "I'll just be happy when I can have th' guest room back. Can't nobody get a wink o' sleep with Bo's snorin' all night long."

"Me? I'm not th' one who had t' get up in th' middle of the night. Why th' heck'd ya' have t' turn the gosh-darned light on for at two in th' mornin'?"

"I though maybe you were dyin' or somethin', you were so loud."

"Boys, quit your fussin'," said Uncle Jesse. "Just sit down an' have yer breakfast."

"Yes sir," griped Bo.

Luke poured himself a cup of coffee and looked out the window. "Huh, wonder where Enos left off to this mornin'. Ain't like _him_ t' get up early."

Daisy frowned. "What'd ya' mean?"

"Well, his car ain't here," shrugged Luke. "I don't reckon it drove _itself_ off somewhere's."

"He didn't say anything about going anywhere this mornin'," she complained. That effectively knocked her plans out of the water.

"He probl'y wanted t' get away from _you_ for a while," teased Bo, "You been fussin' over him like a mother hen ever since he got hisself shot."

Luke took a drink of his coffee to keep from laughing at the blush that stained her cheeks. He'd always wondered about his cousin on that subject. Everybody'd always known how Enos felt about Daisy – he'd worn his heart on his sleeve since they were kids, but Daisy...now she was harder to read.  
As he'd told Bo before, he'd always thought like everyone else had, that she wasn't interested in him at all. Hindsight was 20/20, though, and he'd been the one to have to tell her Enos was gone after she'd married L.D. The change in her had been immediate and lasting, like someone had stolen the sun from her sky, and for all he knew it had been raining over his cousin for the last three and a half years – until Enos had showed up one night outta the blue to come and save her. He wondered if it was as apparent to everyone else as it was to him that she was in love with the man.

"Well, now," he said, watching for her reaction, "I don't recall Enos ever havin' a problem with Daisy's attentions before."

The easy smile and smart comment he would have expected to have heard from her five years ago was gone, replaced only by an even deeper blush and exasperated look his way as she turned her back on them, which only served to further confirm his suspicions.

"He said he had t' go down to Atlanta sometime this week t' do some paperwork with th' State Patrol," she said. "He prob'ly just got up and left early t' get it over with." She opened the front door and went outside to feed the animals.

Luke turned his attention back to the table to finish his breakfast when he noticed Uncle Jesse watching him. "What?"

"Stop pickin' on yer cousin," he said sternly, and Luke knew his uncle had picked up on her odd behavior as well.

"I..."

"Luke..."

"Yes, sir."

* * *

Daisy was in the barn when she heard the sound of a car coming across the field. As much as she hoped it was Enos, she wasn't surprised when she saw Cletus's patrol car jouncing along over the uneven ground. Wondering what kind of charge Rosco had thought up for the boys this time, Daisy ran back into the house.

"Cletus is comin'," she told them.

Bo groaned. "This better not be about that dang school crossin' sign Rosco put out on Skunk Hollow Road th' other day. I'm about t' give that man a piece of my mind if he's done sendin' Cletus out on house calls fer tickets now."

"Now Bo," said Uncle Jesse, "Just calm down and lets see what he wants."

They heard the car door open and shut, the footsteps on the porch, and finally the knock on the door. Daisy waited a few seconds and opened it.

"Hey Cletus, you sure are out bright an' early this mornin'," she said.

"Mornin', Daisy," he replied shyly, removing his hat. He turned to the others. "Hey fellas, hey Uncle Jesse."

"I ain't yer Uncle Jesse, Cletus. What brings ya' here?"

"If this is about that ticket Rosco says we owe him for," said Bo, "you can just take it right back to him. Ain't no school on Skunk Hollow Road."

Cletus laughed and waved his hand dismissively. "Oh no, this ain't nothin' like that. I just come by t' let ya' know that you've got a brake light out on th' General. Saw it when you were pulling outta th' Boar's Nest yesterday. Thought I'd let ya' know for I have t' pull y' over for it."

"Well, we're much obliged, Cletus," said Luke. "but I don't think Rosco's gonna take kindly to ya' bein' out here warnin' us."

"Oh, that don't matter none. He's not around today on account of he had t' drop Enos off at th' airport in Atlanta early this mornin'."

Confused looks surrounded the table.

"Th' _airport_?" asked Uncle Jesse, baffled. "He didn't say nothin' about leavin' th' other day."

Cletus shrugged. "I don't know anything about it, I just heard him sayin' to Rosco that there was somethin' he had t' take care of back in L.A. 'fore it was too late."

The slam of the door startled Cletus as Daisy ran out of the kitchen. "Jumpin' Jeehosaphat! She done nearly gave me a heart attack."

Luke and Uncle Jesse both got up from the table. "Hey, Cletus," said Luke, steering him out towards the door, "Thanks for lettin' us know about that brake light, we'll be sure t' take care of it."

"Oh, no problem," said the deputy, not taking the hint to leave. "Say, ya' think I might be able t' get a bushel of apples from ya' this spring? My momma's wantin' t' put up some fresh applesauce."

"Uh, sure, Cletus...no problem. Ya' know, I think I heard Rosco callin' ya on your CB. You'd best be getting' outta here."

"Oh! Thanks Luke, I'll see y'all later."

Luke waved as Cletus got in his car, turned around, and pulled out towards the road.

"Luke." Uncle Jesse called to him quietly from the doorway and pointed to the barn.

He nodded to his uncle and walked over to the barn and the door that was partially open. He found Daisy sitting against the wall. He walked over and knelt down in front of her.

"If you're here to make fun of me, you can just go away."

He looked at her confused. "I wouldn't do that, Daisy, you know that."

"I don't need any advice, either."

"That's fine. How 'bout you tell me what's goin' on."

"You wouldn't understand."

"Try me."

She sighed and leaned her head back against the wall. "Tell me somethin', Luke. If there was a girl you really wanted t' be with and she led you on all the time an' acted like it didn't mean anything to her, would ya' still want t' be with her?"

"Well, I don't know. Is she pretty?"

She gave him a disgusted look, stood up, and walked out the other side of the barn into the field. He ran after her and stopped her.

"Wait, Daisy...Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to joke. I...just... I don't know what you want me to say. Just talk to me and stop with th' 'what-if's'."

She turned back to him and in the daylight he could see the tear tracks on her cheeks. "Enos left because of _me_."

He shook his head. "I'm not followin' you. Did somethin' happen between you two yesterday? You were all down in the dumps, but he didn't seem like anything was wrong."

"No, Luke, nothin' happened yesterday."

Luke knew her well enough that that wasn't the whole story. "Daisy, I'm just a guy. I'm not good with riddles. Can't you just tell me what's wrong?"

She looked up at him and took a deep breath. "If I tell you what I've done to that man, you'll understand, but it won't make me an angel, that's for darn sure."

"Daisy, we've all done things we regret. Just tell me, I swear I won't talk about it t' anyone else, not even Uncle Jesse if ya' don't want."

She hesitated, trying to find the right words, but eventually just settled on the simple truth. "I love him, Luke."

"Well, alright...I kinda figured that out on my own."

"That's not the bad part. The bad part is _how long_ I've loved him."

He shrugged. "A lot of people find out how much they love someone when they go away. Y'ain't been th' same ever since he left Hazzard."

"It wasn't this last time he left that I figured it out."

"What? When he came back from LA the first time?"

She shook her head, ashamed to even say it aloud. "Remember when he left for the Academy?"

"Daisy, that...that was...nearly twenty years ago."

"Puts things in a whole different light now, doesn't it? I've spent twenty years making him believe he never meant anything to me, and now, when I've finally come to my senses, he's given up on me." Her eyes filled with tears as she remembered.

Luke just stared at her, bewildered. It was a lot to take in because if she'd felt this way since they were kids, there were a whole lot of things that took on new meaning. It also meant that... "Daisy, why'd you marry L.D. if you loved Enos?"

She looked away, shaking her head. "I don't have a good answer for that one. I guess I thought he could do better than me, an' his ma' said some pretty nasty things about it, too. I thought he'd just find someone else, not move to _California_. Pretty awful, huh?"

He hardly knew what to say to her. Truthfully it gave him a queasy feeling to think of how Enos must have felt, and any way it was sifted it sure looked like she'd waited too long to say what needed to be said. "Look," he answered finally, "what's done is done. You're not gonna be able to change th' past, so you'd better start workin' on th' future."

"What are you talkin' about?"

"Just come on." He took her by the arm and steered her back to the house and through the now empty kitchen, into the room he'd been sharing with Bo. "Stand there and don't run off," he told her as he opened the top of the dresser drawer and took out a wooden box.

She knew that box, it was where he'd put the rest of the money he'd gotten from the reward for catching Andy Higgins. As she watched, he took several $100 dollar bills from it, folded them together, and closed it back up. "Luke, what're you doin'?"

He turned back to her. "Take this. Go to Atlanta, get on a plane to Los Angeles, and you go tell him the truth."

"Luke, I'm not gonna take your money."

"Daisy, it ain't hardly mine in th' first place. Me an' Bo were just along for th' ride when we got Andy. If you wanna know, it's more Enos's money than mine. He's the one who did all th' hard work findin' th' guy." He pressed the money into her hands. "I ain't takin' no for an answer. You go and find him and tell him what you should'a told him a long time ago."

Daisy could have stood there and argued, but more than anything she wanted to go after him. She threw her arms around her cousin's neck. "Oh Luke...thank you."

"You just do what you need t' do, Daisy." he said, hugging her back. "and be careful."

* * *

Luke walked back behind the house where Bo and Uncle Jesse were working on untangling a roll of bailing wire.

"Hey y'all, need some help?"

"Yep. Get them snippers over there an' cut this part here," said Uncle Jesse, holding a rusted knot of wire. "You talk t' Daisy?"

"Yes, sir."

Just then Daisy's Jeep pulled out from the front of the house and sped down the drive towards the road. The three of them turned around to watch.

"Where's she off to?" asked Bo.

Luke's eyes followed the dust trail behind Dixie until she was out of sight. "Lord willing, t' do a whole lot of explainin'."

* * *

 _BTW, on my Profile page, there's a link to the "Visual Guide to Beneath a Hazzard Moon" where you can find an updated map and all the pics I've used in building parts of this story. There may be some slight spoilers, but nothing major.  
_

 _I also have a playlist up if you're interested._


	16. California Dreamin'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took Daisy an hour and a half to get to Atlanta, and another twenty minutes to actually get into the airport parking lot. The last time she'd been here, she'd been going the same place – Los Angeles, but back then she'd wide-eyed and excited, going across the country to drive in the Baja Auto Race, with the perk of seeing Enos again while she was there.

It took Daisy an hour and a half to get to Atlanta, and another twenty minutes to actually get into the airport parking lot. The last time she'd been here, she'd been going the same place – Los Angeles, but back then she'd wide-eyed and excited, going across the country to drive in the Baja Auto Race, with the perk of seeing Enos again while she was there.

He was just _Officer_ Strate back then, somehow always getting caught up in wild adventures with his fellow officer, Turk Adams. She'd stay up late into the night, reading the letters he'd send her every week of the world outside of Hazzard. She would write him back occasionally, but not often. There just wasn't much to say about home. Nothing ever changed, and about all she could tell him was that she missed him, though she had phrased it as "we miss you" instead of "I miss you".

"When's the next flight to Los Angeles?" she asked the girl at the ticket counter.

The woman checked a log-book next to her on the desk. "We have three seats left on our 10:15. It's boarding in about ten minutes, though."

"I'll take a ticket for that one, please."

"Will this be one-way or round trip?"

"Uh..." she hadn't thought that far about it. "Just one-way for now," she said. "I'm not sure when I'll be comin' back."

She paid for the ticket, checked the gate number, and rushed off to find it. Her ticket was for seat 37B, which meant she ended up flanked on either side by two strangers. To her left, in the window seat was a pimply-faced teenage boy, whose first reaction to Daisy sitting down beside him was to oggle her chest. On her right was a woman dressed in a smart business suit with too much makeup, reading the Wall Street Journal.

Daisy closed her eyes and lay her head back against the seat, trying to think of what to say Enos when she found him. The truth,...but what _was_ the truth, exactly? It had been so long since she'd been honest even with herself about it, she hardly knew where to start. And what if he'd left because he really _didn't_ want to talk about it? What if he didn't want to hear what she had to say? What if he just wanted to forget her?

No, she resolved, he _had_ come back, and whether he'd set out in the beginning for anything to happen between them or not, something almost had. She determined she was just going to think positive about the whole thing. After all, this was _Enos_ , not some stranger- however long he'd been gone.

The hours dragged on and on until, after a little over four and a half hours, the plane finally landed at LAX. She stepped out of the plane and into what might just as well have been a foreign county. Surrounded by strangers, her courage wavered, feeling like someone who had no business in such a place.

This was what she'd sent _him_ to, her conscience reminded her. On June 7th, 1985, on a rainy night in Georgia, Enos left his home and came here - to this sea of people who all seemed to be in a hurry. Sweet Enos, who she knew would have rather stayed in Hazzard than have all the money in the world. She took a deep breath and walked through the giant terminal until she saw a sign directing her to the main entrance and the taxis.

The driver of the cab gave her an odd look when she asked him to take her to the Metro division of the LAPD, but shrugged his shoulders and said something in an accent that Daisy couldn't quite catch. Driving into the heart of L.A. took it's toll on her nerves, and each mile seemed to take an eternity. The buildings rose around her like massive sentinels of concrete and glass. Finally, the taxi pulled over at 150 North Los Angeles Street in front of the Parker Center, the headquarters for the LAPD. She paid the driver and got out.

Her footsteps on the granite floor echoed through the lobby as she made her way to the elevators. She read through the information posted on the wall, found the Homicide Division, and hit the 'up' button for the elevator. It dinged softly as it opened, and three officers exited past her. The door nearly closed again before she could make herself move. She caught it just in time and slipped in as it reopened, and leaned against the wall, thinking that she couldn't remember in all her life being so nervous, and still having no idea what she was going to say. After a short ride, there was another ding and the door slid open onto a small landing. Across from the elevator was a glass door that read "Homicide Division". She opened it and went inside.

The rest of the building had been mostly quiet. She supposed the evening and night saw more activity from the LAPD than the morning hours did, but here there was a flurry of activity. Rows of light brown metal desks and file cabinets scattered with stacks of folders sat in the slightly cluttered and chaotic room. The acrid smell of print toner and coffee hung in the air, and if the room had been any larger it would have been overwhelming. As it was, it looked like the Robbery/Homicide Division had outgrown it's living space.

"Ma'am," said a woman at the front desk, "is there something I can help you with?"

Daisy tore her eyes away from the rest of the room and looked at her. "Yes, ma'am. I'm lookin' for Detective Enos Strate."

"Oh, he was just in a couple hours ago, but he left. I could leave him a message if you'd like."

"No. No, that's okay. Do you know when he might be back?"

She shook her head. "I'm sorry, I don't." she answered.

Daisy sighed. "Okay, well...thanks. I guess I'll check back later." She pushed the door back open and hit the elevator button, wondering where she could go to wait when she heard the door behind her open.

"Excuse me...Ma'am?"

She turned around to see a young woman, barely past her teens, with long black hair coming towards her. "Um...yes?"

"You're _her_ , aren't you?"

"I'm sorry," said Daisy, confused. "I'm who?"

The girl smiled. "I'm sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself. I'm Connie," she said sticking her hand out, "and you _have_ to be Daisy Duke."

Daisy shook her hand awkwardly. "That's me. How'd you know?"

"Well, I'd know you from your picture on the news, but you're the same girl Detective Strate had a picture of in his top drawer." She blanched as though she'd been caught red-handed at something. "Not that I was snooping! I just...I had some papers for him a couple months ago, but he wasn't in his office, and I needed a pen, and... Ooo, sorry, I'm rambling."

Daisy grinned. "That's okay, I'm sure he wouldn't be that upset."

"Oh no, he doesn't seem like the type that would." The girl's face turned suddenly serious. "Ms. Duke..."

"Daisy."

"...Daisy, what are you _doing_ here?"

"I need t' talk to Enos. Do ya' have any idea when he'd be back?"

Connie shook her head, a puzzled look on her face. "But that's just it. He quit this morning."

Daisy thought she might need to sit down. She leaned back against the wall behind her. "What d'ya' mean, he _quit_?" she whispered.

"He came in here about 7:00 this morning, turned in his badge to the Chief, and cleaned out his desk. Of course he's still on paid leave right now for the next month and a half, but pretty much that means he's done, I guess. He told me it had been real nice working with me and left."

"But...where..."

"Gosh, Ms...I mean Daisy, I don't really have a clue. I know he got a job offer from the Montana State Patrol a few weeks ago. We were all trying to talk him into taking it - not that we wanted to get rid of him or anything, I mean he's a great detective, but we know how much he hates Los Angeles. He gets that look sometimes, you know, and you can tell he's missing something."

"Montana..." How th' hell was she gonna find him _there?_

"Look, we're not supposed to give out personal information, but I'm sure he'd want to know you're here. He doesn't have a phone, but this is where he lives," she handed Daisy a scrap of paper with directions on it. "I put down directions on it. The quickest way to get there is taking the subway if you don't mind walking. Just turn left when you leave the building, then turn left on East 1st, and Civic Center Station is three blocks. You can't miss it. It's the only other place I know to tell you to check."

"Oh, Connie! I can't thank you enough."

"I'm just glad you're safe, ma'am," she said, her face clouding. "Detective Strate...he was really broken up when the Chief told him you were missing." Someone in the office behind her called the receptionist's name. "I've got to get back. Good luck to you, Daisy." She opened the door and disappeared back inside before Daisy could reply.

She looked down at the piece of paper clutched in her hand. The subway was three blocks away, and she had a sinking feeling she needed to hurry. She jabbed the 'down' button again on the elevator in a useless attempt to make it faster. At last she made it back into the elevator, down to the first floor and outside the building. She started towards the station, not even realizing that she was running by the time she made it there. It took her a couple minutes to figure out the ticket vending machine, and she ended up buying a day pass instead of a one-way ticket. She stepped into one of the cars on the Metro Purple Line, and fifteen minutes later, she was at her stop. Checking the directions again, she turned left and walked about half a block until she found Pinehurst Street.

She wasn't sure if these were what people called condos or if they were just apartments. She supposed at one time the old, tall, brick houses that seemed awfully crammed together might have just belonged to one family – back in California's more prosperous days and less populated days. 1141 Pinehurst was no different that any of the rest, stuck between two other houses that looked exactly the same, save for their trim. She stood at the door, feeling dreadfully out of place as she tried to figure out how people got in, until she saw the list of names and buzzers on a panel in the brick facing. Second from the bottom read "3C Strate". She pushed the buzzer next to his name and waited, but there was no answer. Subsequent buzzings were met with equal silence, and she was just about to give up when the door opened and another man came out.

"You need in?" he asked.

"Yeah, thanks," she said as he held the door for her.

"No problem, half the time those buzzers don't work for crap."

The door closed behind her and she found herself in a cramped alcove with a narrow metal staircase leading up to other floors. She supposed 3C would mean the third floor so she headed up. C turned out to be the very last apartment on the floor, and the way it was situated in the building, Daisy was fairly sure it couldn't be much larger inside than a broom closet. She took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

A man stuck his head out from the next door apartment to look at her. "Yo, girl! If you're lookin' for Enos, he's done gone."

Her heart sank. "How long ago?"

"Aw, dude..prob'ly three hours ago. The door's open if you want to check. He told us we could have the furniture if we wanted. Guess he was in a hurry."

"He just left everything?"

"Yeah, bummer, too. It was nice havin' a cop livin' around. Our apartment hadn't been robbed but once the last six months." The man disappeared back inside his room and she heard the sound of a chain lock fastening from the other side.

Daisy put her hand on the knob and turned it, slowly opening the door. "Enos?" she called, though she knew from the silence the place was empty. She went in and closed the door behind her. Like his room at the boarding house in Hazzard had been, the place was neat and tidy, and sparse. There was nothing more than a bed, a tiny bathroom, and a half-stove, the kind you'd expect to find in a small cabin with only two burners. The closet was open and he'd taken his clothes, but that appeared to be it. The bed was still made and what little furniture he had was still there.

She took the pillow from his bed and sat down, hugging to to herself and looking out the window that didn't show much of anything outside. His pillow smelled of the aftershave he wore and it made tears spring to her eyes. It was all she had left of him...and it was nothing. Nothing at all.

Her eyes caught a piece of fabric sticking out from behind the bed post, something that had gotten left behind. She knelt down, pulled it out, and smiled sadly. It was one of his favorite fishing shirts, a soft blue and gray flannel that she'd always thought made him look so... _huggable_ , and she thought she might have even told him that one time. Daisy sighed, remembering the shy, pleased smile he undoubtedly would have given her for such a comment. She pulled the shirt on over her own, got up, and left the apartment, closing the door behind her. For a minute, she debated where to go, but in truth there was no where left for her to look. Whether he was still somewhere in L.A. or on his way to Montana, he might as well have been on the moon. A warm breeze blew past her, smelling of brine and tasting of the tears that filled her eyes.

" _I've lost him,"_ she thought, and in doing so she knew she'd lost a piece of herself forever.

At least before, she'd known where he was - all those years she could have driven or flown to California and found him and told him the truth and begged him to come home to her. What she wouldn't give to turn back time.

Now the only thing left was to go back to Hazzard. She could call the Montana State Patrol and see if he'd taken the job – if they'd even tell her such a thing over the phone - and try to track him down, but it would be an uphill battle with little chance of ever finding him again.

She went back to the subway station and studied the line maps until she figured out how to get back to LAX and a home that wasn't where her heart was.


	17. While You Were Sleeping

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was shortly after 12:30pm Pacific time when Daisy boarded a TWA bound for Atlanta from LAX. She had enough money to stay in Los Angeles overnight and leave in the morning, but she figured if she was going to be miserable, it might as well be in Georgia than in California. The time difference would put her home late, but she didn't care.

It was shortly after 12:30pm Pacific time when Daisy boarded a TWA bound for Atlanta from LAX. She had enough money to stay in Los Angeles overnight and leave in the morning, but she figured if she was going to be miserable, it might as well be in Georgia than in California. The time difference would put her home late, but she didn't care.

There had been several empty seats on the flight back and she'd ended up in a window seat. She wrapped her arms around herself in Enos's shirt and rested her head against the glass, watching as the urban sprawl of Los Angles melted away slowly into the arid hills and valleys of the desert southwest and eventually into plains that stretched on as far as the eye could see. Like the cropland they flew over, still brown and barren in late winter, so Daisy saw her future - desolate and alone, and all the things she'd dreamed of one day having seemed forever out of reach.

The flight to Atlanta took four and a half hours and it was nearly 8:30pm Georgia time when she found Dixie and drove out onto the interstate. She followed I85 to Gainesville, then north up Highway 23 until she hit Chickasaw County, then turned up Spruce Creek Lane at Raleigh, down the dirt roads that had been a part of her life for as long as she could remember. It was past eleven when she pulled into the driveway of home. The entire farm was illuminated – someone had turned the pole light on, just in case she came home she supposed, and though she wished she could just slip in without anyone the wiser, she knew her Uncle Jesse would be sitting up waiting for her.

Instead of going inside the house, she walked to the barn, hoping anyone that saw her drive up would take the hint and leave her alone. The night air was heavy and humid, feeling more like spring than than the 8th of February, and the barn was stuffy with the smell of the hay and animals. She opened the large double doors at the other end and slipped out. On the field side of the barn she sat down under the eave on the dry, packed earth, leaning her back against the wall. The post light's rays shone around the building, casting strange shadows out into the pasture. Far to the north, the lightening played out across the sky, illuminating the boiling storm clouds that were quickly rolling in over the Blue Ridge Mountains. A breeze with the scent of rain caught her hair and she closed her eyes, letting it whip across her face instead of holding it back and thinking how fitting it was to come home to rain, to a storm that would mirror the anguish she felt inside.

She heard the front door of the house open and shut quietly, whoever it was had caught the screen door on the way out. It would be Luke or Uncle Jesse, and her money was on her uncle since he hadn't talked to her before she left. The footsteps crossing the gravel drive were quick and even though, not the sound of his steps, and so she resigned herself to having to talk to Luke again about what had happened. Just thinking about it made the tears start again and she tucked her knees up to her chest and buried her head in her arms, willing him not to find her. Listening for footsteps in the barn instead of the grass, she didn't notice anyone was there until he knelt down quietly beside her. She didn't bother to look up.

"Please, just leave me alone."

But the soft voice that answered her wasn't Luke's. "Daisy...oh Daisy, don't cry."

She raised her head. Overcome with emotion, she couldn't speak even to say his name, as Enos pulled her into his arms and held her tight.

"Daisy, I'm so sorry." he said. " Luke told me what happened. I didn't mean t' scare ya'. You weren't even s'posed t' know where I went... that's why I left so early, 'cause I was flyin' right back."

He had left the Duke farm before sunup, driven into town, and woken Rosco up – to much griping and complaining until he'd explained to the Sheriff what he was doing there, and offered him a dollar a mile to drive him to Atlanta and pick him up later that day. Rosco had phoned Cletus to tell him where he would be, but Enos hadn't counted on the deputy heading off down Mill Road to talk to the guys that morning.

He'd left his car at Jake's to get new tires, and Rosco had dropped him back at the farm that afternoon. Luke had nearly (literally) rung his neck when he'd walked into the kitchen shortly before supper time. He'd explained everything to them, which had put _their_ minds at ease...but not his. Never in all his life would he have thought she'd follow him. The idea of Daisy wandering around alone in Los Angeles only brought to mind cases he'd worked at the Homicide Division - the ones of beautiful women in the wrong places at the wrong times. He'd sat at the window looking nervously out onto the road for the rest of that evening and into the night, watching for headlights and praying she was safe.

"I thought you'd left." Her face buried against him muffled her words.

"I'd never leave without tellin' you, not again - not like before."

"Cletus came an' told us you'd flown off t' L.A. What was I _s'posed_ t' think?

"Daisy, Cletus ain't _never_ been accused of usin' th' brain God gave him. Don'tcha know better than t' take his word on somethin'?" She gave him a rueful grin as he brushed the tears from her cheek. "Now what was so all-fired important that ya' had t' chase me all th' way t' California for?"

His eyes met hers and suddenly she realized what that look in them had been the last week that she couldn't figure out. _He knew_.

She looked up at him suspiciously. "Why do I get th' feelin' you already know?"

No matter how happy she'd been to see him thirty seconds before, Enos knew he was about to tread on thin ice. He looked down, knowing what he was about to say would change everything forever. "'Cause I wasn't asleep," he said quietly. "When you were talkin' to me...I wasn't asleep."

Daisy's mind raced through the times she'd been around him while he was sleeping, and stopped dead in it's tracks. She pulled back from him and stood up as he dropped his arms from around her and did the same. "What d' you mean?" she asked, though she surely knew what his answer would be.

He took a deep breath and sighed heavily. "At th' cabin...you were all set on talkin' about what had happened when I'd left Hazzard, an' I figured if I just played possum, I could get back t' California without gettin' my heart put through th' ringer again. But then you started sayin' th' gosh-darn most beautiful things I ever heard, an' I...I couldn't bring myself t' stop you. Sorry, Daisy." He winced as though he expected her to whack him, but she just stared at him, speechless, as a bright flash of lightening raced across the sky above them.

Enos had been sure she would have figured out that he was awake. His heart had been racing and it had taken all the concentration he could muster to breathe normally as she'd told him things he'd only dreamt of hearing her say. He hadn't slept a wink that night. For the last twenty years, Daisy's flaky behavior towards him had been a mystery... until she'd given him the answer while she thought he was sleeping.

He could see her face, burning red, even in the dim light and her eyes flash angrily with embarrassment as the rain began to fall beyond the eaves of the barn.

"Gosh, Daisy, don't look at me like that. It ain't like I _meant_ t' snooker ya' or nothin'." He tried not to fidget and failed miserably.

She shook her head. "If you heard what I said, then why did you just walk away from me yesterday at th' pond? ...You _were_ tryin' t' teach me a lesson! Ooo! You're impossible, Enos Strate!" She turned and walked off, out into the rain.

He followed her, caught her arm and pulled her back in front of him. "No, Daisy! You're not walkin' away from me again." She looked up at him, the rain striking her cheeks as though the sky were adding its tears to her own. "I wasn't tryin' t' teach you a lesson, I just... I have t' have more than a dream t' come back to, Daisy. Promise me someday I'll have _you_ , an' I'll come back, an' I'll wait forever... but I have t' _know,_ and it has t' be real. I _love_ you, Daisy, and nothin' will ever change that - but if you tell me t' go, I'll go, an' I swear I'll never set foot in Hazzard again."

In the light of his ultimatum, at last she saw plainly between them the wall that she had built. Had she thought he had changed? He had always been there, waiting for her. It was _she_ who had pushed _him_ away, and who at fifteen had begun playing a game that had changed their lives forever. She reached up and put her hand against his cheek, and he closed his eyes and leaned into her touch.

"Oh Enos," she said softly, "I have no idea why you'd still want me after all I've done t' you. But I _do_ love you, and I'm yours if you'll have me."

He looked down at her, and she didn't have time to tell whether it was the rain or tears that fell from his eyes before he gathered her in his arms and hugged her tight. She laced her own around him, under his coat.

"Daisy...," she heard him breathe into her hair. "...oh Daisy...you're all I've ever wanted."

Neither of them knew how long they stood there in the rain, locked in their embrace. It beat down upon them, drenching them, washing away the wasted years. He moved back but not to let go, keeping one hand on her back as the other drew her wet hair away from her face. He tilted her chin up to look at her, with eyes full of love and longing, before they closed and his lips met hers. He kissed her once, soft and hesitant, and then again. Daisy, afraid he would stop and let her go, took his face in her hands, pulling his mouth back harder against hers. She felt him smile, and the world and the rain and all the years between them melted away as his kisses changed from cautious to passionate. He pulled her against him, and she knew from the taste of salt that they had been tears on his cheeks and not the rain.

They finally parted, breathless, still clinging to each other.

"So...you want me t' _stay_ , right?" he whispered, teasingly.

Daisy laughed and hugged him tightly. "Yes Enos, I want you t' stay." She slid her hand into his. "Come on, we're gonna catch our death of cold out here." She pulled him after her around the barn, across the gravel, and up to the porch, hitting the switch to turn off the pole light on the way.

He picked up the blanket from the porch swing and draped it around her shoulders.

"Aren't you cold?" she asked him.

"Nah, just m' coat's wet." He took it off and sat down at the far end of the swing. She followed, curling up next to him in the blanket as they sat, contentedly listening to the rain.

"I've missed you," she said, quietly. He was about to answer her, but she continued. "And I don't mean just when you were gone. I missed _us_ , Enos, th' way it always was when we were kids...when no one could tear us apart."

He put his arm around her and she lay her head against his chest. "I've missed you, too, Daisy Mae," he whispered, nearly making her cry all over again to hear the name he hadn't called her since they were kids.

"What are you gonna do, now that you quit your job in L.A.?"

"Well, I talked t' Rosco on th' way to Atlanta. For now I've got m' old job back, but he'd like t' retire as Sheriff."

She leaned back and frowned at him. "Enos, you deserve better than workin' for Rosco as a deputy! That's a pretty big demotion, an' you know he's not gonna quit as Sheriff with no pension."

"That's okay, Daisy, th' perks are better," he said, kissing her temple. "'Sides, Cooter's come up with an idea of how t' get Rosco his pension back."

"Cooter! Enos Strate, did everyone know what was goin' on but _me_?"

He grinned, and she felt him laugh quietly. "No, I just happened t' mention to him that I was movin' back when I dropped m' car off at Jake's this afternoon. You didn't seem t' be around," he teased, "or I would'a told you, too."

"Uh huh," she grumbled good naturedly. "So what's th' plan?'

"Well, o' course Cooter ain't gonna be around Hazzard much longer, but he's gonna help get it on th' ballot come March for a Special Election. He figures if we spread th' word around that th' Sheriff'll step down if he gets his pension back, it'll pass with flyin' colors. Bo an' Luke ain't th' only ones tired of his tricks."

"Well, you're not kiddin' there," she said. "I don't know why no one thought this up _years_ ago."

He paused, then added shyly, "I thought I might put my name in for th' next election after that."

"Oh Enos, there's not a soul in Hazzard that wouldn't vote you in as Sheriff!"

"Be kinda strange, wouldn't it? "

"Hazzard would finally be respectable again."

"Th' Georgia State Patrol offered me a job, too, assigned to th' Tri-County area, but I think if I had my choice, I'd rather be Sheriff than a State Trooper. Until then, I reckon I don't mind sittin' out in th' woods waitin' for speeders. It'll be a nice break from California, that's for sure."

She laughed and lay her head back against him. He felt her breathing gradually become slower until he realized she'd fallen asleep. Enos wasn't tired at all, having slept most of the time on both flights earlier that day . The rain slowed and then stopped as the storm played itself out and moved on towards the south. He kissed the top of her head, breathing in the scent of her shampoo, marveling how the girl in his arms had changed the entire course of his life. He'd waited so long for a moment that he'd never really believed he'd see, dreamed so many dreams that he thought would never see the light – and yet here she was, _his_ \- the way it should have been all along. In the clarity of hindsight he wished he'd gone after her that day – the day he'd learned she was getting married to L.D., but he couldn't have known then what he knew now. That was just one of the many things that he wished...he shook his head. There was no sense in going there, and he would just as soon close the book on at least the last four years.

He'd spent the last week and a half relearning Daisy Duke. There had been a time, back when they were both in school, when he'd known her better than anyone, a time when they barely had to talk to know what the other was thinking, and he found that the bond he'd thought had been lost forever was still there. In the light of what he secretly knew they shared, he could finally see what had been there all along – love, subtle but strong, coloring every look, every smile, and every touch however innocent that she'd ever given him. Enos found himself loving her more deeply than he'd thought possible as the days passed by. He hugged her gently to him as she slept. Daisy... _his_ Daisy, and as God as his witness, no one was ever going take her away from him again.

* * *

He must have dozed off, thought Enos, as he watched a streak of gray on the horizon grow lighter and gradually change to a soft pink as the night waned and morning swiftly approached. As loath as he was to wake her, and as much as it was nobody's business what they were doing on a porch swing at dawn, soaked to the bone, he had to go to work and it would be easier on Daisy if she didn't have to endure her family's teasing.

He stroked her hair back from her face, a part of him fearing she'd changed her mind after sleeping. "Daisy," he said, gently, "Daisy, wake up."

She woke startled, and sat up, wondering why she was outside until she saw Enos and remembered the night before.

"Mornin', Daisy," he said, shyly, "I'm sorry t' have t' wake ya', but I have to get to work soon unless I want Rosco t' fire me before I even start."

Daisy laughed, and brushed her hand across his cheek, knowing he was probably worried that she'd changed her mind overnight. "Mornin' t' you, too.." She stood up and held her hand out to him to pull him up as well. "I feel like I slept in a swing all night," she said, rubbing her back.

"I'm sorry, Daisy, I should'a woken you up so you could go t' bed," he said, contritely, looking away from her.

"No, Enos, you should _not_ have." She recognized the characteristic shyness settling into him, and knew she had to do something to stop it. She looped her arms around his neck and leaned into him as she pressed her lips to his. For a split second he was still, but then he took a breath, put his own arms around her, and kissed her back.

"You didn't dream it, ya' know," she said when they'd parted.

"I know that Daisy, I'm just not used to it's all. I've spent th' better part of my life tellin' myself _not_ t' touch ya'."

She grinned up at him, thinking how much things had changed in the last 24 hours. The blanket she'd had around her was damp and she draped it over the back of the swing. "Come on, I'll fix ya' some breakfast before you have t' leave."

Enos looked warily at her damp clothing. "Ah, shucks Daisy. You go on an' get some dry clothes on, I think I can manage not t' burn coffee an' ham."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, go on."

"Thanks, I'll hurry." She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and headed out of the kitchen towards the bathroom to take a shower.

Shortly thereafter, Bo walked into the kitchen, roused by the smell of food. He did a double take at the slightly disheveled Enos standing at the stove, cooking breakfast.

"Uh...mornin' Enos."

"Mornin' Bo."

"Daisy get back okay last night?"

"Yeah, she did," said Enos, not turning around.

"Where is she?"

"Takin' a shower, I think."

"Um...okay..."

Luke came into the kitchen and walked over to the window. He saw Dixie setting in front of the house, smiled to himself, and reached for the coffee. Uncle Jesse walked in, sat down at the table, and picked up the paper from the day before.

"Mornin' Luke," said Enos, cheerily.

"Enos. Ya' don't look like ya' slept...much."

Enos blushed faintly. "Oh, well, it's hard t' sleep after sittin' on a plane all day."

"Or in a swing all night," agreed Uncle Jesse, not looking up from the paper.

Bo and Luke glanced questioningly at their uncle, but Daisy breezed into the kitchen just then.

"Mornin' y'all."

Her cousins and uncle greeted her while Enos grinned. She came over and took the skillet from him.

"Thanks for makin' breakfast. You'd better go get dressed, though."

"If ya' could give me a lift into town, Daisy, I'd be mighty obliged."

"No problem, Sugar."

They smiled at each other, neither moving until Luke cleared his throat and they looked away.

"I'll be ready in a minute, Daisy," said Enos and left the kitchen as Daisy watched him go.

"So," said Luke, "You work things out with Enos?"

She turned back to the stove to hide her grin. "Maybe."

"You two sure are actin' awful gosh-darn strange this mornin', that's for sure," said Bo. Luke had told them where she'd gone, but not why exactly. Bo figured Daisy following Enos to California had a whole lot more to do with a guilty conscience than it did anything else, but seeing them standing too close together and getting all dreamy looking at each other this morning was making him wonder if he was missing something.

A couple minutes later, Enos came back in, dressed in a uniform he hadn't worn in nearly four years. Daisy's face lit up as he fastened the buttons on the black Hazzard County coat. She crossed over to him and straightened his tie.

"Feel strange?" she asked.

He shook his head. "Feels like home," he said, quietly.

* * *

 _A/N: Okay...I've read the reviews. His 'reputation', lol... Y'all crack me up. All I can tell you is that I'm a hopeless romantic._ ..


	18. I Can't Drive 55

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  _A/N: The map has been updated :)_

_A/N: The map has been updated :)_

 _Warning: This chapter contains fluff. You have been warned._

* * *

Daisy and Enos hadn't seen much of each other in the days after he returned, not from lack of wanting to, but Rosco had decided that if Enos wanted his old job back so much, he could work Friday to the next Wednesday from sunup to sundown. Enos had moved out of the guest room at the Duke farm and back into town to be closer to the Police Station. All the apartments at the boarding house where he'd lived before were taken, so he'd rented the room above Jake's Garage - even though having tires beside his bed drove him batty – until he could find something else.

During the day he had patrol duty, which amounted to sitting in the middle of nowhere in his car, waiting for some unsuspecting speeder to come through. Problem was, everyone in Hazzard knew all the speed traps so on Saturday, Rosco had stuck him all the way out on Eagle Rock Road. He hadn't seen but one vehicle the entire day, save ol' Ben Hanson on his tractor who lived two miles up the road.

Even his nights were spent working. On Friday evening he discovered that no one had apparently been filing anything since he'd left to go to L.A. years before. It took him working till the wee hours of the morning both Friday and Saturday nights to catch up on it. On Sunday evening, Charlie Adam's cat got stuck in a drainpipe and it took Enos five hours and three cans of sardines to coax her out.

Monday morning, he backed his patrol car into the speed trap at Eagle Rock at 7:00am and settled in for another long and uneventful morning and afternoon. He'd been woolgathering for nearly two hours when an idea - a horribly brilliant and devious idea entered his mind. He spent the next two hours trying to convince himself to forget it, but bolstered by mind-boggling boredom and having not seen a car in four hours, he eventually gave up on that account and spent the last hour before lunch working up the courage to do it.

"What are you grinnin' about?" teased Daisy as she watched him eat his lunch at the Boar's Nest.

He laughed nervously. "Nothin'. Just thinkin'..."

She leaned over the bar, resting her chin on her elbows. "What'cha thinkin' 'bout?"

He blushed, finding it difficult to keep his eyes on her face. "Thinkin' about how gosh awful boring it is out on Eagle Rock Road."

"Is that where Rosco's got you set up? There's nothin' but cows on that road!"

"I saw a tractor yesterday," he amended. "Say, you get off at three don'tcha?"

She looked at him sadly. "Yeah. Ya' know, it's not fair Rosco makin' you work six days straight day an' night, Enos. You look like ya' could sleep for a week."

"Ah, it's alright, Daisy. He ain't had a break in a while anyway just bein' him an' Cletus. I reckon it's th' least I can do for him givin' me my job back on no notice."

She smiled and shook her head. "You're too sweet, you know that? …I miss you, though," she said, softly.

He smiled at her, not his typical smile, but one that gave her the distinct impression that Enos Strate was up to something, however unlikely that usually was.

"I've gotta get back t' work." He slid the tip he normally left her across the bar to her fingers, his eyes catching hers. "Don't speed down Eagle Rock Road on your way home," he said, quietly, "or I'll have t' pull y'over." She looked at him, confused, since Eagle Rock wasn't on her way home. "See ya' later, Daisy." He picked up his hat and left the Boar's Nest.

Daisy wasn't sure what to make of what he'd said until she looked at the tip he'd given her. On pay day's he'd always tipped her five dollars, which was more than his meal came to and other days he left two. He'd passed her a twenty dollar bill. Her heart skipped a beat as she realized what he wanted her to do - twenty dollars was the price of a Hazzard speeding ticket.

* * *

The hours rolled slowly by as Enos waited at his speed trap. Part of him was having trouble coming to grips with the fact that he'd asked Daisy to break the law in order to see her today. Not only that, but he was _on duty_ , and if Rosco found out, he was libel to be working down with the spiders in the records room for the next six months. The other parts of himself were too wrapped up in feeling giddy and nervous to think about much at all.

Of course, he supposed, she might just think he was kidding or not take the hint. It certainly wasn't something anyone would imagine _him_ doing - of course no one knew what he'd _thought_ about while waiting at Hazzard speed traps for all those years, either. He honestly couldn't remember a time when he'd pulled Daisy over unless Rosco or Boss had told him to...it was just a little too close to his daydreams to be comfortable with. He checked his watch – 2:55pm.

* * *

Like clockwork, Bo and Luke stepped into the Boar's Nest right before 3:00 pm.

"Hey boys," said Daisy, bringing them each a beer. "I'm outta here. I'll see ya' at home later."

She threw her jacket on, even though it was warm enough again today not to need it and hopped into Dixie. Her heart raced as she started the Jeep's engine and drove out onto Mill Road in the direction on home. She followed it all the way past Stillson Canyon but instead of continuing straight towards the farm, she turned off to the right down Eagle Rock Road. There was no telling where Enos would be parked since this wasn't a normal speed trap out here, so she floored it.

* * *

Enos gripped the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles turned white as he watched the empty road in front of him. Nothing. His nerves made him feel slightly nauseous, and he began to think just maybe this really _had_ been a dim-witted idea when Dixie suddenly tore past him doing well over the speed limit. His heart seemed to stop as he pulled Hazzard #2 out behind it and turned his lights on.

Daisy didn't pull over, but kept going past the turn off for Canyon Springs, down to where Eagle Rock turned into Jimson Lane. She took a side road off that split off to the left and Enos knew she was headed to the small pond at the end of it. Two miles later, the Jeep skidded to a halt at the edge of the water, and he pulled the patrol car pulled up behind her, blocking her in, and flipped the lights off.

For a long moment he couldn't move, temporarily stunned at what he had done.

He forced himself to take a deep breath and open the door. There would be no one around for miles, he knew. There weren't any fish in Jimson Hollow or nearby Quarry Lake to lure anyone out this far and the scenery wasn't great either. Daisy had put the top and doors back on Dixie for the winter, but he caught her reflection in the Jeep's side view mirror and schooled his features to look as serious as he possibly could.

Daisy watched him in the mirror as Enos nonchalantly got out his car and made his way around to the Jeep, looking for all the world like he'd never planned it all out. She leaned on the door as he came up to her side and tried her best not to giggle. "Hi there, officer," she said. "Is there a problem?"

"Ma'am, do ya' know how fast you were goin'?" he asked, straight-faced.

"No, I wasn't payin' a bit of attention, How fast _was_ I goin'?"

He frowned. "Shucks, I forgot t' look. I'm gonna have t' ask ya' t' step outta th' vehicle."

"Oh sure, no problem." Daisy climbed out out of the Jeep, and followed Enos as he walked back to his patrol car and grabbed the ticket he'd already written out off the dash.

"Here ya' go," he said, handing it to her. "I'll be at th' station tomorrow mornin' an' you can come by an' pay me...uh, pay th' ticket."

"Is there anything else I can do for you?"

She saw him fight back a grin as he put his hands on her waist and hoisted her up to sit on the hood of the patrol car. "You also tried' t' evade an officer of th' law. Got somethin' t' say for yourself?

"Oh, I'm definitely _not_ guilty of that." Daisy took his hat from his head and set it gently beside her.

"An' theft of property," he added, stepping up close to her.

She wrapped her arms around his neck. "I'll have t' do community serv..." was as far as she got before he kissed her.

In everything else, his demeanor had always been patient and reserved, but in Daisy's arms it was as though all the years of waiting and wanting washed over him, and he could think of nothing else but loving her. Some people had vices, addictions that ruled their every thought and action - Daisy was Enos's, and he craved her lips on his, and her hands in his hair, and her arms around him – and he found having a little only made him want more. Neither of them heard Rosco calling him on the CB for several minutes.

"Enos!" Enos's eyes flew open. "Enos, you knuckle-headed dipstick, where th' heck are you?" yelled the Sheriff.

Enos tried to pull himself away from Daisy, and would have fallen over if she hadn't still had her arms around him. For a split second, he thought he'd been caught and that Rosco was actually behind him.

"Enos," said Daisy, "it's your CB."

"If you're asleep on th' job, boy, I'm gonna stick ya' in th' records room 'till you're old an' gray!"

Enos grabbed the CB from his car, cleared his throat, and took a deep breath. "Hey there, Sheriff. This is Enos. Were you callin' me? Over."

"You numb-skull! I've been callin' ya' for five minutes."

"Sorry, sir. I was uh...outta th' car for a bit."

"Doin' what?"

"Well sir, there are things ya' just don't do in a patrol car," said Enos, enigmatically. Daisy nearly fell off the car, doubled over in silent laughter. "Did ya' need somethin'?" He asked the Sheriff, grinning back at her.

"Tilly Smith says she's hearin' funny sounds in her chimney. She thinks it's th' ghost of her husband, an' I ain't got time for that crazy ol' bat right now. I need ya' t' go an' check it out."

"Uh, sure thing, Sheriff. I'll be right there. Over an' out." Enos tossed the CB haphazardly back through the open window of the car and returned to where Daisy still sat, waiting for him. "Sorry, Daisy," he sighed. "Guess I've gotta get. Thanks for vis'tin' my speed trap, though."

She grinned at him. "I feel like I'm a teenager, sneakin' around like this. I keep waitin' for Uncle Jesse t' show up an' drag me home." She picked up his hat and set it back on his head.

"You're welcome t' tell ever'body whenever ya' want." he said. He wasn't sure how it had happened that way in the first place – the not telling anyone bit, though it was kind of fun sneaking around.

"I'm sure they'll figure it out on their own, Sugar." She brushed his cheek with the back of her fingers. "We used t' sneak around all th' time when we were kids."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Hmm...somehow I remember less kissin' an' more fishin'."

"Really?" she smirked. "I know for a fact you went parkin' once with Amy McCollum."

Amy had always been head over heels for him, but other than being friends, he could have cared less about her. "Now Daisy, you know good an' well that ain't true. She just happened t' have car trouble down at 'Cory Canyon an' I was th' only one she knew t' call."

That night had been nearly fifteen years ago, but she talked like it had been the day before. He'd never told her or anyone else what had really happened, only that Amy had a loose battery cable that he'd fixed and left, but in truth, that was the night he'd made his choice. He'd politely declined her offer and walked away, knowing that Amy wasn't the one he wanted.

"You _sure_ that's all that happen'd?"

Something in the way Daisy asked him struck Enos as strange. When it had happened, she'd teased him about it, and he remembered getting the impression that she hadn't cared one way or the other. She wasn't teasing anymore, though. Her cheeks were stained by a faint blush, her eyes cast down away from his, and he realized that this was how the conversation _should_ have gone all those years ago. He was finally seeing her _honest_ reaction, and he wondered – surely she hadn't been jealous or thought that he...

"No, Daisy, that's _not_ all that happened," he answered, quietly. She looked back up at him, and he knew he was right about what she'd thought. "I made a choice that night...an' I chose _you_." He smiled sadly at her. "And if you'd asked me about it when it happened instead of actin' like ya' didn't care, I just might of told you that." She put her arms around him and he hugged her, wondering how many other things she'd kept inside all these years.

"I'm sorry, Enos. I...just, I was afraid to know the truth. Didn't know how t' ask ya' anyway."

He shook his head and sighed. "Aren't we a pair? I could always tell ya' how I felt, but I was too scared t' show ya', an' you were always flirtin' with me and never told me how ya' felt."

She leaned back and took his face in her hands as he looked down at her. "I love you, Enos Strate."

"I love you, too, Daisy Duke," he answered, giving her a quick kiss. "...but if I don't get back, Rosco's libel t' kill me."

"Okay," she laughed.

"Thursday evenin', there's somewhere I want t' take ya'."

"Where?"

"You'll see."

* * *

Wednesdsay afternoon, Luke walked into Jake's garage, mainly waisting time and looking to see if Cooter was still around. He found both of them hunched over the engine of Enos's Javelin, arguing about air flow and carburetors.

"Hey y'all. What's wrong with Enos's car?"

Both men turned to look at him. "Oh, hey Luke. Ain't nothin' wrong, far as I can tell," said Cooter. "In fact, me an' Jake were just admirin' it."

Luke glanced at the mismatched primer panels and dented, rusty chrome. "I'm gonna take it y'aint talkin' about th' outside."

Cooter waved that aside. "Ain't you never heard beauty's on th' inside? Naw, shucks, whoever rebuilt th' engine didn't spare no expense, that's fer sure. How much you say Enos gave for this?"

"I think he said $400."

Jake looked like he might piss his pants. "Gosh dang, Cooter," he said, "th' engine alone's worth a couple grand!"

"Man, Enos's one lucky SOB."

An idea struck Luke. "Say, Jake, Cooter...how long do ya' think it'd take to fix th' rest of it up?"

Cooter shrugged. "Well, pretty much ever'thing but the engine's had th' tar beat outta it. Needs a new suspension, exhaust, re-chromed, all that good stuff. A couple weeks. Why?"

Luke smiled. "If we all pitched in, think we could get it done by Friday?"

Cooter looked at him like he'd gone completely off his rocker. "Friday! ...No, huh-uh. I ain't spending another 48 hours like we did on th' General puttin' _him_ together."

"Now, just hear me out, Cooter. I know it was hard work, but me, Bo, Daisy, an' Uncle Jesse have been tryin' t' come up with some way we can thank Enos for all he did savin' Daisy. This'd be th' perfect thing. Poor Enos ain't had a decent car all his life."

"Well, yeah, I know...but..."

"Come on, Cooter. You're leavin' Friday. It's th' least we can do."

"Oh, alright," he sighed, knowing himself for the pushover he was. "I guess one last Hurrah before I go back to th' stiffs in Washington might do me good."

Luke patted him on the back. "Thanks Cooter, I'll let everyone know."

"Well, now, just hold on a minute. How're we gonna go bangin' around on Enos's car _here_ when he's stayin' upstairs?"

"Well, Rosco's got him workin' late again tonight so he won't be here until after dark. We'll just do the parts he won't notice first."

Luke called Daisy, Bo, and Uncle Jesse to meet him over at the garage and filled them in on the plan.

"Oh Luke!" cried Daisy "That's a great idea! Enos 'll be thrilled."

"Well now," said Uncle Jesse, "I can help ya' tonight, but I promised t' pay Holly Comfurt an' her family a visit on Thursday an' I won't be back 'till Friday afternoon."

"What're we standin' around for?" asked Bo. "Cooter, hand me a screwdriver an' I'll start takin' off th' trim."

They had about five hours worth of work time before Daisy, down the road in Jake's car, radioed them shortly after 11:00pm to let them know Enos was on his way. Everyone stopped what they were doing and found somewhere to hide while Jake flipped off the lights. Enos used the outer stairs to enter the loft and was asleep the minute his head hit the pillow, and the work downstairs resumed...quietly. By noon on Thursday, they had finished everything except the paint and trim.

"Jake" said Bo, looking through paint cans, "Please tell us you have somethin' besides orange around here t' paint a car with."

"Oh, yeah," he replied, "some new company sent me a couple sample cans. I think I put 'em over here." He rummaged around in the corner under some metal signs. "Hey, here we go. There should be plenty."

"There's only one problem, y'all," said Cooter.

"What's that?" asked Luke.

"There ain't no way Enos can sleep here while we're paintin' his car. It's loud an' it smells horrible."

"Well, we'll come up with somethin'. Say Daisy..."

"Yeah Luke?"

"Why don't you pick up Enos when he gets off of work? I'll give him a call and let him know he'll need t' stay out at th' farm."

"Sure thing. He's gonna want his car when he gets off work, though."

Bo tossed her his keys. "Here, tell him he can drive th' General, just keep him away from Jake's."

Daisy pocketed the keys and grinned. "Don't worry y'all, I'll keep him outta here. You boys want me t' leave th' porch light on for ya' if you're gettin' back late?"

"Ah, naw, don't worry about it," said Bo. "You're gonna have th' General anyways. Me an' Luke 'll just crash over at Jakes an' you can come by an' get us in th' mornin'."

Daisy stared at Bo. "Um...oh...okay. I'll get you in th' mornin then," she said. "I'm gonna go wait on Enos."

Luke picked up the phone and dialed the Sheriff's Department.

* * *

Enos walked out of the Courthouse at 5:00 that afternoon and breathed a sigh of relief. It had been a long, long week, ending with a strange phone call from Luke letting him know that he and Bo were going be helping Jake out with some project tonight and that he'd be better off staying out at the farm than sleeping above all the racket. Not only that, but apparently his car was trapped behind all the mess so Daisy was picking him up in the General Lee. It all sounded a bit squirrelly to him.

He walked down the steps to where the orange Charger was waiting on him, and climbed through the passenger's side window into the car.

"Hey Enos."

"Hey yourself, Daisy," he said, setting his hat on the back seat. "What's goin' on? Luke called an' said I needed t' stay out at th' farm."

"Yeah, they've got something they're workin' on with Jake an' Cooter. Trust me, you wouldn't get a wink of sleep with all their racket."

He smiled knowingly at her. "An' your job is t' keep me away from there?"

Gone were the days when they could pull anything over on Enos. The man had learned somewhere along the way to read between the lines. "Are you gonna quit worrying an' askin' questions or would ya' rather Bo keep you company instead?"

"Shucks Daisy, I didn't mean nothin' by it. I need t' get somethin' there first, though."

"I'll drop you by, but use th' outside stairs." She drove around to the other side of the square and Enos got out and went up to the loft. He wasn't gone for more than a minute when he came back down to the car and leaned down to the driver's side window.

"I'd be much obliged if you'd let me drive."

Daisy laughed and climbed out the window, but held the keys behind her back.

He held out his hand. "Keys."

She grinned up at him. "For a kiss."

"Ya' know, Cooter's lookin' out th' window."

"So?"

So he took her face in his hands and kissed her lingeringly.

* * *

Cooter, who just happened to be looking out the window, squinted and rubbed his eyes.

"Say y'all," he called to the guys behind him. "Is there something goin' on between Daisy an' Enos I don't know about?'

"What d' ya mean?" asked Luke.

"Cause, either I'm goin' blind, or they're out there kissin' each other."

Bo and Luke scrambled over to the window just in time to see what Cooter was talking about.

"Well, I'll be...," whispered Bo.

Luke shook his head. "You know, there's some things ya' just take on faith...an' then there's other's you gotta see t' believe."

* * *

"So, you never said, where're we goin'?," said Daisy.

Instead of heading in the direction of Mill Road, Enos turned right onto Highway 20, heading north, and a few miles later he turned again onto Ridge Road. Daisy didn't know what there was up here other than old shacks and stills and no idea what Enos would want her to see, but then again he knew the area better than she did.

"It's not much of a place, just th' end of th' road. It ain't far, couple more miles."

As they drove, the elevation got higher and higher until she could catch glimpses of other hills to the left. On the right was a steep ravine that was too close to the side of the road for her comfort. She was looking down at the right side when Enos pulled the car off on a small section of gravel. She'd never been up this far, not all the way to where the road ended – she hadn't even been aware it did. Most of the country roads out here just wound around forever until they met up with something larger or you came to a spot that was impassible from wash-outs or fallen trees.

"This is it," he told her and climbed out the window.

She climbed out as well and looked around her for the first time. The beauty of it made her breath catch. In front of them, the land fell away into an immense gorge, but to the left, she could see the taller foothills of the Blue Ridge mountains, rising up from the already dark land below them until their peaks caught the sunset and lit up like gold.

"It's beautiful," she said, awestruck.

He pointed to the northwest. "See th' cleared place on th' side of that hill?" She nodded. "That's right above Choctaw." He turned her around and pointed southwest. "An' that's Hazzard, with Highway 20 beside it." A shadow passed quickly across his face and drew his eyes back over the land around them.

"What's wrong, Enos?"

He shook his head, as though trying to dismiss whatever he'd been thinking of. "The last time I was up here was th' night before th' storm hit," he said. "I looked out over these hills, an' I knew _somewhere_ you were out there, but I didn't know how I was ever gonna find you. I don't think I've ever felt so helpless in all my born days."

Daisy put her arms around him and hugged him. "Oh, Enos..." She'd never really had much chance to think about what he must have been going through. With him knowing that no one else knew the area as well as himself, not to mention that it had been her who was missing, he'd taken all the responsibility onto his own shoulders. She knew better than anyone that he'd held her life in his hands and it was because of him and his choices that she was standing there instead of six feet under.

He stroked her cheek gently. "I thought I'd lost you, Daisy," he said. "An' I swore t' God if He let me find ya', I'd leave ya' alone if that's what you wanted - just t' know you were safe." He stepped out of their embrace and took her hands in his. "Whatever happens, Daisy, I don't ever wanna lose you again. You're the only girl I've ever loved an' wanted, an' I swear I'll do my best t' make it worth your time." He knelt down in front of her, and she blushed as she realized what he was going to ask. "Daisy, _someday,_ would ya' please marry me?"


	19. Questions & Answers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  _A/N: mygh91 - Yes, I too love Enos in the black coat.._

_A/N: mygh91 - Yes, I too love Enos in the black coat.._

 _Also, check out my new Enos/Daisy profile pic :)  
_

* * *

Daisy knelt down in front of him, her eyes shining. "Enos Strate, what do you think?"

He looked nervously at her. "Honestly Daisy, if it's all th' same t' you, I'd rather just hear ya' say it than t' guess."

She wrapped her arms around him. "Yes, Enos. I want nothin' more than t' marry you."

"Oh Daisy..," he whispered. He held her tight, slightly dazed over the fact that she'd had agreed to marry him. In truth, he'd been afraid she might have said she wasn't ready, or that heaven forbid her last experience would have put her off the idea forever. He'd had to try though, had to know where things stood between them because he honestly didn't know how much longer he could stand only seeing her haphazardly through the week. He wanted her to be there when he went to sleep at night and woke up in the morning...and other things which he kept failing miserably at not thinking about.

"Enos..."

"Yeah?"

"Is this gonna give you th' hives?"

He laughed and let her go. "Shoot Daisy, I plum forgot about that. Turned out it wasn't you that gave me th' hives after all."

"Well if it wasn't th' thought of us gettin' married, then what was it?"

"Well, it happened t' me again out in California, - th' hives thing that is, not th' gettin' married part. I'd been chasin' this drug dealer through a nature preserve there, just a big swamp mostly, an' by th' time I caught him I was soaked to th' bone. Th' next day ya' couldn't see me for th' hives."

"What does that have t' do with us almost gettin' married?"

"'Remember when ya' asked me, an' I almost fell outta th' boat? Th' doc there in L.A. said it's some sort of algae that I'm allergic to. Reckon it must be in Hazzard Pond, too."

"Well, that's a relief," she grinned. She got up from where she still knelt with him to sit on the hood of the General Lee, still warm from their drive. Enos took off his gun belt and set it in the car, then turned on the Charger's lights and took a seat next to her. The sun was nearly down, and the last of the light fading from the tops of the hills. Daisy shivered as the wind blew across them.

He noticed and took off his coat, putting it around her shoulders. "I'm sorry for keepin' ya' out here when it's gettin' cold. We can go if ya' want."

"Oh, no, that's alright. There's no one at home anyway. I should've brought my jacket. I forget it's still winter when it's so warm during th' day." She glanced at the uniform he was still wearing. " _You're_ gonna get cold, though."

"Shucks, Daisy. I ain't never cold when you're around." She laughed, and he turned towards her, frowning. "That didn't sound right."

"Oh, so it's not true?"

"I didn't say it wasn't true," he said, self-consciously. "It just wasn't what I meant t' say."

Daisy couldn't resist teasing him. "Oh Enos, I'm sure there were plenty of girls out there in Los Angeles that coulda kept ya' warm."

"Why?" he laughed, knowing she was just trying to pester him. "'Cause I was a detective for LAPD? Come on now, Daisy. How many'd still be around when they found out I'd rather be a hick cop and go fishin' on Saturdays?"

"Well, I'm real glad they're not."

"'Sides, ain't a one of 'em could hold a candle t' _you_ , Daisy," he said, quietly. "Ya' don't know how miserable I was tryin' t' convince myself t' forget ya'. Th' harder I tried, th' more I missed ya', an' every night I'd dream I's back in Hazzard."

She closed her eyes, wishing she could take back what she'd done to make him leave. Just the thought of Enos trying to forget her and Hazzard was enough to break her heart. "No one woulda blamed you if you'd moved on, Enos. 'Specially not after what I did t' you."

He looked out, into the dark beyond the hazy beams of the headlights, and Daisy got the feeling his mind was far away, seeing something else entirely.

"Why'd you wait for me?" she asked, honestly not knowing the answer.

He turned and put his arm around her, and she rested her head against his shoulder. They sat there in silence until Daisy began to worry that perhaps he couldn't think of a good reason at all.

"Daisy," he said finally, with a sigh, "that's not somethin' that I can tell ya' in fifty words or less, 'cause I've loved ya' longer than I've known what love _is_. When we was kids, wasn't nothin' I couldn't do as long as you were with me. An' y' always knew just what t' say...or what _not_ t' say."

In those dark days after his father had died, it seemed everyone had thought they'd known what to say to him - to a fifteen year old boy who suddenly found himself in the position of being the man of his family. Everyone except Daisy. He didn't know if she'd still ever mentioned what had happened, but she'd been there through it all while he'd struggled to work it out on his own.

"I don't know if I woulda made it through my fifteenth year without y' there." She raised her head from his shoulder and sat back so she could see him. "You spent a year's wortha hours an' a decade's wortha patience on me when I didn't have any for anyone, an' I know it couldn'a been easy on ya'. There were times when I felt like you were th' only thing I had keepin' me tied to th' world." He caught a lock of her hair and twirled it absently around his fingers as he spoke, a new habit he'd picked up to substitute for fidgeting.

She shook her head sadly. "But I never even _said_ anything, Enos. All that time, I knew you were hurtin' so much, an' I'd lie awake at night wishin' I could do somethin' t' make it better."

His fingers stilled, and he looked up into her eyes. "But ya' _did_ , Daisy _,_ " he said, confused. "Didn't ya' know that? An' I could pick a thousan' more reasons why I love you. But I took ya' for granted all those years, an' I thought nothin' would ever change. Then I came back from th' Academy an' somethin' was broke between us."

"That wasn't your fault."

"Why didn't ya' just tell me, forevermore?"

"I don't know, Enos. Honestly, every reason I have sounds like I'm scrapin' th' bottom of th' barrel. We were both just kids, and at first I thought you'd tease me about it, so I played it off like I was just kiddin'. Then it got t' be where it'd gone on for so long, I didn't rightly know _how_ t' tell ya'," she said. "I almost _did_ once, though...when Norman Willis was after me, an' I had t' stay th' night with you."

Regardless of what _he_ remembered about that night, she'd never quite forgotten it – or what it had felt like to go to sleep wearing his shirt and wake up in his bed...without him in it, of course. She hadn't been able to stop herself from imagining was real, just for a little while. It had been a strange, almost painful thing to watch him walk away from her that next morning, knowing the ruse was over, but in the end she couldn't make herself tell him what was in her heart. Perhaps, she thought, he wouldn't of believed her anyway.

"I always wondered about that...," he said dismayed. "When you called me back."

"I didn't want ya' t' leave."

Enos could only imagine how different that day could have turned out if she'd only told him the truth then. He'd noticed something different about her that morning, and when she'd called him back and walked over to him, he'd thought until the very last second that she was going to kiss him on the lips instead of the cheek...something that he shared a love-hate relationship with. Loved them for what they were, hated them for what he believed they were not – which was the reason he'd never kissed her back. But now, tonight, it was different - a million light years away from that room and the longing that had hung unspoken and unshared between them.

"If you'd told me th' _truth_ , maybe I wouldn't've," he told her. " I always thought ya' were just joshin' me, but ya' dang near 'bout drove me crazy sometimes. If I'd..." He stopped short at the look on her face. "What?"

Daisy slid off the car to stand in front of where he sat. Her body blocked the light from that side's headlamp, silhouetting her against the misty beams that spread out behind her – like an angel of darkness in the moonlight. His heart skipped a beat because she couldn't know how so very alluring she looked, nor could she feel the fire that started where her hands rested just above his knees as she leaned forward and whispered to him.

"Enos...do I still drive ya' crazy?"

He couldn't hold back the nervous laugh that escaped him before his body recovered from it's initial shock. His fingers tangled in her hair as his lips found hers in the darkness, and he kissed her hard – his mind spinning with all the years he'd ached for her and the desire he'd so carefully concealed for so long.

Daisy, who'd only meant to tease, found herself swept up in Enos's passion. She realized how very wrong she'd been to think that a kiss was nothing more than a trifle - to be given away on a whim to any guy who came along, as she drowned in a yearning more boundless and deep than anything she'd ever known. A love lain in wait - biding its time for only her.

He stood, sliding from the car and drawing her closer into his arms. Time stretched away into nothing, as their past collided with their present, as though every kiss was fueled by a separate memory. She pulled his shirt loose from where it was tucked in, feeling his breath catch as she slid her hands up under it, over his chest, so lost in him she didn't even feel them falling, until she collapsed with him underneath her, cushioning her from the gravel.

She felt him still, but she could tell from his heart racing beneath her fingers that he was anything but calm as he sat up and broke their kiss. Face to face, she saw the panic in his hazel eyes, and with a horrible premonition, she knew what he was going to say.

"Daisy," he whispered, his breaths ragged and uneven, "Daisy...I'm s-"

Daisy clapped her hand over his mouth. "No, _please_ don't say it _,_ " she pleaded. "You'll break my heart if you tell me you're sorry."

Enos closed his eyes, torn between the fear of having acted upon what he'd kept hidden for so long and the longing for more. His introspection was shattered by her voice, whispering in his ear, telling him she loved him, unknowingly pushing him further towards the edge of what self-control he still possessed. He took a deep breath and forced himself to focus on something else – on the cold, for it _was_ cold now that the sun had set completely and the wind blew over the hills from the north, and the gravel his hands rested upon. He opened his eyes to find Daisy watching him, no doubt worried that he might yet say what he _had_ been going to say before she stopped him. She should know though, that he could never break her heart – even if he felt he _should_ apologize for his behavior.

Instead he put his arms back around her and hugged her, hardly daring to believe that three weeks ago, he'd still been in L.A. It would have been Thursday, January 19th – the day before Daisy disappeared. He thought back over all that had happened since then...and all that could have played out so differently, not only finding her at all, but the night at the cabin. What if she'd never said anything while she thought he was sleeping? They could have very well gone the rest of their lives believing that what they both wanted could never be.

"Ya' know, we don't have t' stay here t' be alone," she said, softly. "There ain't no one at th' farm tonight."

He sat back and gave her a long look. "Maybe I oughta stay somewhere else."

Daisy leaned forward and kissed him gently. "Maybe ya' oughta take me home."

* * *

Enos noticed right before he climbed into the car that the headlights had noticeably dimmed since he'd turned them on, and since he'd lost all track of time, he had no idea how long ago that was.

"I hope th' battery ain't dead," he told her, "or else we're gonna be _walkin'_ home."

He turned off the General Lee's lights before he turned the key. It cranked once, sluggishly, and then again. His eyes met Daisy's as they waited nervously. On the fourth try, the engine finally turned over and roared to life. She laughed.

"It ain't funny," he complained. "Five more minutes an' we _woulda_ been walkin'." He backed the car up and spun it around, heading back down Ridge Road. "See now, you're pickin' up right where ya' left off when we was in school."

"What're you talkin' about?"

"Shoot Daisy, you was always gettin' me in trouble." He didn't hear what she said in response, his attention was diverted by a car, less than a half mile ahead of them. By the random movement of it's headlights, he could tell the driver either wasn't paying attention or was drunk, and being that they were driving through the heart of moonshine territory, his bet was on the latter.

"Daisy, fasten your seatbelt."

"Why? What's wrong?"

"Gosh dang, Daisy, just do it!"

"Okay, okay..." A 'click' sounded as she fastened the lap-belt.

He flicked the lights onto the bright setting for a moment, illuminating both sides of the road in front of them. Any other road in Hazzard and it wouldn't be as big a deal, even if they had to run off into the ditch. Any other road but this one – with one side a hill even the General Lee couldn't climb and the other side a sheer drop-off into oblivion. He could just make out a turn off ahead, between him and the other car whose lights still wandered crazily back and forth.

It was like one of those damned math problems he'd always hated...th' ones where you had one car traveling north at 55 mph and one car traveling south at 35 mph and you were supposed to figure out where the blamed things were gonna meet. He'd been cocky one time and written "They don't 'cause the smart one turned around first before they got there" - for which he'd received an 'F' and a couple whacks on the backside.

"Enos...," Daisy noticed the car in front seemed to be swerving quite a bit. "Enos, th' car..."

"Yeah, I know, I see it, but there ain't nowhere t' go. Hold on..."

He down-shifted and floored it, knowing the only hope of coming out unscathed was to try and make it to the turn-off before the other car. The Charger surged ahead, and Enos struggled to keep one eye on the car in front of them and another on his escape route. Three hundred feet, 200, 100, 50... The other car swerved, but the wrong way and back into their lane. Lights exploded in his vision as he cut the car hard to the right, and Daisy's scream was the last thing he heard before the crunch of metal...

* * *

 _A/N: I know, I know...another cliff-hanger. It's like insurance that you'll come back. :)_

 _Sorry about the wait on this chapter. This is actually the fourth total rewrite of it. Twice I had over 4 pages and scrapped it all because I just didn't think it sounded enough in character. It's hard to write a passionate scene between two people who were barely allowed to get outta first gear, lol. So, anyway...let me know whatcha think.  
_


	20. The Next Chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  _"On this day, to be standing here with you -  
>  there's no doubt I know this love is true.  
> See my tears, only you can understand  
> this state of grace -  
> I feel blessed to hold your hand._

_"On this day, to be standing here with you -  
there's no doubt I know this love is true.  
See my tears, only you can understand  
this state of grace -  
I feel blessed to hold your hand._

 _...With your love I'm not alone.  
In your world, I'm never far away from home.  
A life I thought I'd never find -  
In your eyes I see all that I am,  
with your love.  
-Journey_

* * *

The passing car caught the General Lee on the left rear quarter panel, spinning them around 180 degrees to rest in the direction they'd come from. The drunk, either unconcerned or unaware that he'd hit anything, continued on up the road, taillights never flashing.

Enos killed the engine, flipped on the dome light, and turned to Daisy. "You alright?"

She still clutched the seat and armrest in a death grip, and he could hear her rapid breathing as she met his eyes. "Yeah," she said, "I think so. How 'bout you?"

He gave her a slight smile. " 'Scared about ten years offa me, but otherwise I'm fine."

They sat, staring at each other across the console while long seconds ticked by, before falling into each others arms – neither saying a word, but knowing how close they'd come to disaster.

At last Daisy sat back and wiped the tears from her cheeks. "I guess we'd better see how much y' owe Bo an' Luke for repairs, Hot Shot." She grinned, but her smile didn't reach her eyes, and she knew she wasn't fooling him.

They climbed out to inspect the damage and found that it wasn't too bad, the other car had just clipped the side panel, busted a taillight, and left a cantaloupe sized dent below it.

"Well, I don't think yer cousins are gonna let me borrow th' General Lee again for a while, but it coulda been a heck of a lot worse, that's for dang sure," said Enos, kneeling down by the rear tire. "You'd better b'lieve I'll be up here t'morrow lookin' for a car with orange paint on th' front."

Daisy glanced at the dent in the rear panel, only five feet down from the driver's side door, and said nothing. Instead she walked to the far side of Ridge Road and looked out over the ravine. She hugged Enos's coat around her, but she shook from more than the chill of the night air. Stooping, she picked up a medium sized rock from the side of the road and dropped it over, watching by the moonlight as it hit another and dislodged it, starting a cascade of gravel, dirt, and debris tumbling into the darkness below. In her mind she saw the General Lee, careening over the edge, flipping end over end. When she was younger, she would have laughed at having skirted death, now...well she supposed she wasn't a kid anymore. Enos's arms around her startled her out of her grim meditation.

"Standin' here lookin' down _there_ ain't gonna make ya' sleep good tonight."

She leaned back against him, and he tightened his embrace. "We both managed t' grow up an' get outta these hills, Enos, but they're still tryin' t' find ways of killin' us."

Her words recalled more ghosts than he cared to remember. "I'd be mighty obliged if they'd stop tryin'," he said, quietly.

They'd both lost more than their fair share of family to the Blue Ridge Mountains. Daisy herself was an orphan, something most people tended to forget since Jesse and Lavinia had taken her in when she was just a baby. Bo's parents and Luke's father, Enos's own father and grandfather, an aunt, the list went on and on – these hills were soaked with the blood of Dukes and Strates, and all the other families who'd scraped out a living running White Lightning through them.

With a heavy heart, Daisy turned around and hugged him tight. The way the General had been hit - if they'd been a split second slower, the drunk's car would have smashed into the driver's side instead of the taillight, and regardless of what would have happened to her – Enos by all rights would probably be dead.

"I can't stand anymore of almost losin' you, Enos," she said, tremulously. "I nearly did two weeks ago when ya' got yourself shot savin' my life." She drew back and fingered the silver Hazzard County badge on his shirt. "An' don't think I don't know th' chance you take every time you walk out th' door in this uniform. I've thought about it since you were nineteen, worryin' someday I was gonna have t' put _you_ in th' ground, too."

The pain and sadness in her tone was laced with anger, though Enos knew it wasn't directed at him, but at life itself for what it was – simply a game of chance with an uncertain future. He smiled sadly at her. "I don't mean t' worry ya', Daisy, but that's just th' way of things - ya' take a chance every time ya' wake up an' get outta bed. Heck, a million things could go wrong b'fore breakfast. Why, I heard of a guy..."

"Enos...," she stopped him, knowing his ramblings were just a defense mechanism for not having to talk about things he found uncomfortable.

He sighed. "Daisy, I don't wanna think about either of us losin' each other. I came close enough t' that already, an' I still hear ya' screamin' out in them woods every night I go t' sleep...'cept in my dreams I never make it to ya' in time." he added, his voice rough.

She put her hand against his cheek and he covered it with his own. "I'm so sorry. I sure wish I could send ya' some sweet dreams."

Her words cleared the gloom from his face. "You already do, Daisy... everyday I'm with ya's a dream come true."

"Oh Enos," she said, smiling shyly up at him, "I could live th' rest of my life an' never get tired of hearin' your sweet words. You always make me feel like I'm somethin' special."

"You _are_ special, Daisy. You've gotta heart of gold – more than anybody I've ever known."

Her smile faltered. "Enos, you're th' last person who oughta be sayin' that about me."

"No," he said, "I'm th' _first_ person. Th' way I figure it, everything ya' did was 'cause ya' thought ya' were helpin' me in some way or another." He put his hand over her mouth before she interrupted him. "I'll grant ya' they were terrible plans," he said, honestly, "but that don't mean your intentions weren't good."

Daisy took his hands in hers, and looked up into his eyes. She said nothing for a long time, but stood watching him in the semi-darkness, her heart full of love for the man in front of her who could forgive twenty years of heartache so easily. She wished there was someway she could fix what she'd broken between them, once and for all - not only because she felt she owed it to him, but because she loved him more than life itself, and if something happened to her tomorrow she would want him to know that she had truly been his - heart, mind, body, and soul forever.

He waited patiently for her to say whatever it was that was on her mind. When she finally spoke, her voice was quiet, barely louder than the wind and full of emotion.

"Enos, I...I want t' know that if somethin' happened tomorrow, we'd have made right what's been wrong between us first."

"You tell me how t' do that, an' I'll do it. Anything...I swear it."

She took a deep breath and looked up at him, her heart pounding. "Would you marry me... _tonight_?"

Her request caught him off guard, and he laughed nervously, his mind automatically believing she was teasing him, though he couldn't remember her ever looking so serious in all his life. Regardless of how it sounded, he had to ask, "Y..you're not...not _shuckin'_ me, are ya'?"

Her eyes never left his as she shook her head slowly. "No... I'm not."

A memory came to his mind of another day, covered long ago by the dust of time. It had been here in these hills the first time he'd held Daisy in his arms – though as a boy of fifteen he'd no understanding of the emotions which were only whisperings of what he would grow to feel for her in the years to come. He still didn't know how she'd found him that day, standing at the edge of the old L&N railroad trestle, terrified that if he backed away his legs would betray him and he would hurl himself into the river below – and he knew everyone would think he'd jumped on purpose. She'd pulled him back and thrown her arms around him, screaming at him the whole time for scaring her to death.

They were two souls - separated for so long, yet never meant to be apart – and for the first time in over half his lifetime, he could see not only the woman, but the girl he'd always loved shining through her eyes. Oh, but how he'd missed her...

He cupped her face in his hands and leaned in close, his breath warm against her cheek. "How am I gonna say 'no' t' what I've always wanted?"

* * *

Jesse Duke put down the phone for the third time that evening without an answer. He checked his watch. It was 9:45pm, not all that late but still odd that Daisy wasn't at home since she had to work the next day. He wasn't sure if he needed to worry - or just wonder, about the Deputy Sheriff that he was fairly sure had something to do with it.

* * *

"Enos, town's th' other way." They'd taken Cedar Point Road off of Ridge down to Mill Road, but instead of turning towards Hazzard, he'd turned left, towards the farm.

"If you think I'm gonna wake Rosco up an' get him t' marry us, you've done lost yer mind, Daisy Mae."

"So where're we goin'?"

"Ain't Judge Druten still livin' up on Drexel Road this side o' Hollister?"

"Last I knew. What? You mean we're gonna go knock on his door?"

"Gotta better idea?"

"Nope," she laughed.

Drexel Road took off north of Partridge Farm and ran through the northern tip of Hazzard County to the tiny town of Hollister, just over the border in Drexel County. It was nearly ten o'clock when they pulled in front of the old Victorian style home. It had always struck Enos as odd to see such a grand house in the middle of farm county, but he reckoned the judge could build whatever fancied him. He and Daisy climbed out of the Charger, but he caught her by the hand and pulled her back to him before she could go any further.

"Hold on a minute," he said, tucking his shirt into the waistband of his pants. "I look like I got mugged."

Laughing, she ducked back into the car, grabbed his hat from the back seat, and put it on his head. "There. Good as new, Deputy Strate."

"You sure this is what'cha wanna do?"

"Are ya' tryin' t' talk me out of it, Enos, or d'ya' think that's what you're _s'posed_ t' ask someone before they run off an' get married in th' middle of th' night?"

He grinned. "Well, I sure ain't gonna try an' talk ya' outta marryin' me, no matter what time a day it is, Daisy Duke." His comment earned him a kiss.

Hand in hand, they made their way up the gravel drive to the lit porch.

* * *

It was 10:05pm when the phone rang at Jake's garage. They'd finished the paint on the Javelin two hours ago and were killing time, waiting for it to dry enough to put the trim back on.

"I'll get it y'all," said Cooter, hopping up out of his chair and picking the receiver up from the phone on the desk. "Oh, hey, Uncle Jesse. Yeah, they're still here, hold on I'll get one of 'em." He handed the phone to Luke.

"Hey, Uncle Jesse. What's goin' on?" It was late for his uncle to be calling, of course on the farm things pretty much shut down when it got dark, so late was sometimes relative.

"Nothin' in particular," said Jesse. "Just wanted t' see how things're gettin' along over there. "

"Not too bad," replied Luke, "we've gotta couple more hours of work, but we should have everything wrapped up before too long."

"Oh, well good...good..."

Luke knew his uncle well enough to know there was something else on his mind, but he didn't ask what. He'd heard that tone of voice one too many times growing up – usually when it turned out his uncle'd found out about something he'd done to get himself in trouble. He swore th' old man had eyes in th' back of his head.

"So, how's Holly an' th' folks?"

"Oh, they're fine...just fine." He paused. "Say, is Daisy around?"

"No, she's back at th' farm."

"Well, I reckon she ain't. I've been callin' over there all evenin'. Ever'thing alright?"

"Uh..." Luke wasn't used to having to cover for _Daisy_. "As far as I know it is, Uncle Jesse. She picked up Enos after he got offa work, but I ain't see her since then."

"Huh." There was a pause before Uncle Jesse continued. "Well, I just wanted t' check an' see how it was goin'. You boys be careful drivin' back, an' I'll see ya' tomorrow."

"Will do, Uncle Jesse," he said. "We'll see ya' then."

He hung up th' phone and walked back over to where the other guys were.

"Hey cuz," laughed Bo. "It' too late t' be thinkin' that hard about somethin'. What's goin' on?"

Luke shook his head, perplexed. "Nothin', Uncle Jesse was just lookin' for Daisy. I guess she an' Enos ain't at th' farm, yet."

Bo glanced up at the clock. "Kind of a late night." He grinned back at Luke. "Or maybe they just ain't answerin' th' phone."

"That's a downright disturbin' thing t' be sayin', Bo Duke," said Cooter, getting up out of his chair. "I think I'll go an' check th' paint."

* * *

Enos shot Daisy an amused look as he rang the doorbell. "Well, I reckon this is one thing I never thought I'd be doin'."

She squeezed his hand. "That makes two of us."

The door opened to reveal a short, balding man, with wire-rimmed glasses in a well-worn, red plaid robe and blue slippers. Enos began to apologize for bothering him, but the older man beat him to the punch.

"I'd tell ya' that th' jail's th' other way, Deputy, but it ain't th' first time I've seen that dopey look you two've got in yer eyes," he sighed. "Come on in outta th' cold." He held the door until they'd stepped inside and then shut it behind them.

"I'm right sorry 'bout disturbin' ya', sir," said Enos.

The judge sighed and smiled kindly at them. "Oh, that's alright, son. Ever since I retired, it's about th' most fun I get." He looked curiously at the two of them. "Though I gotta say it's usually th' _younger_ kids who do this sorta thing."

He motioned them to follow him into another room which was set up as a sort of library with a long table in the center and a desk with bookshelves in one corner. Enos lay his hat down on the table and Daisy took Enos's coat off and draped it over a chair.

"How's yer Uncle Jesse, Miss Duke?"

"He's doin' just fine, sir," Daisy answered.

"Ain't seen him around much lately. Don't get in t' Hazzard much in th' winter, though. Specially not with th' storm we had." He turned to Enos. "Read about what happened in th' paper. That was some mighty fine work ya' did, Deputy...or should I call ya' Detective?"

Enos smiled self-consciously and told him the same thing he told everyone who insisted on lavishing praise on him on that account. "I's only doin' my job, sir. An' I'm just a Deputy, unless th' State of Georgia needs th' other."

"Well, welcome back t' Hazzard then. Don't know as I'd fancy out west, either, though I s'pose this young lady had somethin' t' do with your comin' back."

At that Enos gave him a true smile. "Yes, sir, she did."

"So..." The judge walked over to a short desk and removed a paper from one of the drawers. "You'll need' t' fill this out with your full names, an' sign below." He lay it down and fished a pen out of another drawer, handing it to Enos. "I'll go rustle up Martha, an' I'll be right back."

Enos took the pen and scowled. "Full name, huh?"

"Oh, Enos," Daisy chided him, "there's nothin' wrong with your given name. I think it's cute."

"Tellin' me it's 'cute' don't make me like it any better," he grumbled as he filled in his part of the license and signed it. He handed the pen to Daisy, who added her name to the paper as well.

Judge Druten reentered the room, followed by a plump, cheery-faced woman in her sixties, with pink rollers in her hair and a floral housecoat. Martha Druten had been Daisy's Sunday-school teacher when she was little.

Daisy looked at her sheepishly as she came over to them. "Oh, Ms. Martha, I'm real sorry we got ya' outta bed."

The woman smiled brightly at Daisy and hugged her. "Oh now, Daisy, y'ain't got nothin' t' be sorry for. Why, it gets so dreadfully quiet 'round here since our girls done grown up and flown away, an' I love weddin's anyhow, even if they are a little spur o' th' moment," she laughed. "How's Uncle Jesse an' th' boys doin'?"

"Oh, just fine, gettin' everything ready for th' spring plantin'."

"An' nice days for it this past week, too. How many acres do y'all have still?"

Charles Druten interrupted her. "Martha, y'all can catch up later. I for one wanna watch th' news 'fore I hit th' hay." He looked at Daisy and Enos. "Now, do I need t' go over th' usual admonitions with ya' like I do with th' kids that show up thinkin' this ain't th' real thing?"

"No sir," said Enos, "I reckon we're countin' on that. It bein' th' real thing, an' all."

"Well, alright then." He picked the license up from the table with their names on it and looked it over. "Do ya' want t' do this th' right way, or d'ya just want me t' sign at th' bottom?"

They looked at him, confused.

"Never mind," he chuckled, "I don't get many takers on th' just signin' option. Well then, kids, we'll do this th' right way. Face each other and hold hands."

Enos took Daisy's hands in his and they turned towards each other. She grinned up at him, wide-eyed and a slight blush staining her cheeks. He was so caught up in thinking about how beautiful she looked, he missed the first part of what the Judge was saying.

"...have come here with an intention to marry one another and join hands forever in a sacred bond of unity." The Judge looked at Enos, who thankfully now appeared to be paying attention. "Do you, Benjamin Enos Strate, take Daisy Mae Duke to be your lawfully wedded wife, promising from this day forward to be her faithful husband, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish as long as you both shall live?"

Daisy gave his hands a gentle squeeze. "I do," he said, relieved that his voice sounded normal. He vaguely remembered practicing those words once upon a time and wondered briefly now why he'd ever thought they'd be hard to say. He beamed at Daisy, whose eyes seemed to be suspiciously watery - unaware that his own were as well.

The Judge turned to Daisy. "Do you, Daisy Mae Duke, take Benjamin Enos Strate to be your lawfully wedded husband, promising from this day forward to be his faithful wife, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish as long as you both shall live?"

Daisy barely noticed the tears that slipped down her cheeks as she stared up into Enos's eyes. "I do," she said, softly.

"You don't happen t' have a ring do ya'?" the Judge asked Enos.

"Huh? Oh! Actually we do," he said. "That's what I had t' go back up for when ya' dropped me off earlier, Daisy." He looked back at Judge Druten. "They're in my coat."

"I'll get it, honey," said Martha, walking over to the chair his coat was on.

"They?" asked Daisy, confused. "How many rings have ya' got?"

Enos flushed. "Well, I didn't have much time, so I just grabbed the box. It has both in there."

Martha, having found what she was looking for, handed Enos a small, white ring box. Daisy's breath caught when she saw it. She knew that box, it was the same one that had held the rings they'd picked out four years ago at Boss's jewelry store. Enos opened it and took out three rings – an engagement ring with a half carat diamond, the gold wedding band that matched it, and a man's simple gold ring.

"Enos," she whispered in disbelief, "you kept them..."

He shrugged. "I couldn't bring myself t' return 'em."

Truth be told, he could of used the money back then, having bought them with the insurance settlement he'd gotten from when Frank Scanion had blown up his car, but returning them would have put the last nail in the coffin of his dreams. So he'd kept them - a tenuous link to a past he could never hope to forget. He handed his ring to Daisy.

"Okay, good. Well then," said the Judge, "place the ring on her finger and say: _With this ring, I thee wed._ "

Enos slipped the engagement and wedding bands onto her finger. "With this ring, I thee wed."

Daisy placed Enos's ring on his finger. "With this ring, I thee wed," she repeated.

"I, Judge Charles Druten, by the power vested in me by the State of Georgia, now declare you man and wife." He smiled at them. "You may kiss your bride." Judge Druten left them and went over with his wife to the table to sign the marriage license.

Enos wiped the tears from Daisy's cheeks and kissed her softly before gathering her into his arms and hugging her tight.

The Judge walked back over to them and handed the marriage license to Enos. "This needs t' be filed at th' courthouse. Technically I'm s'posed t' take it there myself, but since you're a police officer, you're authorized to do it. I expect you'd rather take it than me handin' it t' Rosco."

Enos took the paper. "I'm mighty obliged, Judge."

"Oh, it's not a problem," he said. "You two run along now, I'm kickin' ya' out."

"Yes, sir." Enos grabbed his hat and Daisy his coat and his hand and pulled him out of the room and then out the front door, thanking the Judge as she passed him. She stopped when they got to the car and turned to Enos, the momentousness of what they'd just done beginning to sink in.

"You ain't havin' second thoughts are ya'?" he teased as she hugged him tight.

She shook her head. "Huh uh."

"Good, 'cause it's too late, Mrs. Strate," he said, hugging her back. "An' I think we'd best get outta th' Judge's yard, 'fore he comes an' shoos us off."

"Alright, let's go then."

He leaned in through the passenger's side window and stuck the license in the glove compartment before helping Daisy into the car.

It was less than a ten minute drive from Hollister back to the Duke farm. The house was eerily quiet and deserted as Enos parked the General Lee outside. They climbed out and Daisy waited until Enos met her at the front of the car.

He looked nervously up at the farmhouse and around the yard. "You're sure no one's comin'?"

"Shouldn't be," she told him.

He gave her a look. "That's not sure enough."

"Oh, don't worry, I've got that figured out. I'll check up on th' boys. Let 'em know ya' wrecked their car," she said, nudging him with her elbow.

He stepped in front of her. "They find out what we just did, they're gonna have a fit."

She grinned up at him. "Well now, I don't aim t' tell 'em _that_...not _tonight_ at least." She put her hand against his cheek. "Quit worryin', Enos. Come on, an' I'll get hold of Luke."

They went inside to the moonlit kitchen.

"Possum on a gum-bush, it's nearly as cold in here as it is outside," said Enos. "Th' fire must be nearly out. I'll check on it while ya' call."

"Okay." Daisy picked up the receiver and dialed Jake's garage as Enos walked past her towards the living room and the fireplace.

"Jake's, Cooter Davenport speakin'."

"Hey Cooter! How's it goin'?" she asked, cheerfully.

Cooter lowered his voice. "Daisy Duke! Where you been, girl?"

"Uh...is Luke there, Cooter?"

"Yeah, he's here. Hold on just a minute." He handed the phone to Luke.

"Daisy?" asked Luke. "Where in th' blue blazes you been? Uncle Jesse called lookin' for ya'."

"What did ya' tell him?" she asked, nervously.

Now that question was about as suspicious as it got comin' from Daisy, thought Luke. "I told him you picked up Enos an' I hadn't seen nothin' of ya' since."

"We had a wreck."

"What! What happened? Are y'all okay?"

"Yeah, we're fine, just a busted taillight on th' General and a couple dings. Nothin' Jake can't pull out in an hour. How're things goin'?"

"We're about done here." Luke thought for a second. There wasn't any reason for Daisy to call this late at night about something like a busted taillight...unless she was just makin' sure they were still there. He figured there was one way to test that theory. "Maybe we should see if Jake can give us a ride back tonight..."

"No! I mean...it's just a dent, nothin' t' bother Jake about tonight."

Luke laughed on the other end and rubbed his tired eyes. "Daisy...did ya' really call about th' car or just t' check up on us?" The tables had been turned – when they were younger and wilder, it had always been Luke or Bo callin' Daisy to make sure Uncle Jesse wasn't out lookin' for one of them.

There was only silence on the line for a moment. "I'm sure I don't know what you're talkin' about Luke," she said. "I'll pick ya' up in th' mornin'."

"Make it early," he joked, but she'd already hung up.

* * *

Daisy hung up the phone and sighed. She'd have to endure her cousins' teasing tomorrow, but at least they wouldn't be showing up tonight. The living room was still dark, except for the fire that was now burning brightly in the fireplace and at first she didn't see Enos. He was sitting on the floor, his back to the coffee table, staring absently into the flames in front of him.

He glanced at her when she sat down beside him and gave her a slight smile but turned his attention back to the fire. Daisy thought perhaps what they'd done was finally sinking in, but he didn't look nervous, just deep in thought. She waited patiently, knowing he would eventually say whatever was on his mind. The light played across his face and brought to her mind the night at the cabin, when she'd thought he was asleep and had poured her heart out to him, unaware he was hearing every word. Somehow he seemed younger now though, a testament to the stress he'd been living with when he found her. He was a bit rough around the edges tonight as well, which was something she didn't usually associate with him in uniform, but they'd had a strange last six hours. Honestly, she thought it made him endearing.

"I kept expectin' somethin' t' happen to stop us," he said quietly, still not looking at her. "'Cause ya' know, nothin' seems t' go off without a hitch 'round here, an' 'specially not for _me_."

"You're not sorry it didn't, are ya'?"

He turned to her finally. "No, I'm not sorry," he reflected, catching a strand of her hair and twirling it through his fingers. "Just surprised, an' I reckon I'm a bit overwhelmed. I keep wonderin' when I'm gonna wake up...'cause this has t' be a dream." His eyes met hers, and he moved his hand to trace the side of her face and then her mouth with his fingertips.

His touch sent a shiver through her. "It's not a dream," she assured him.

"Well, maybe it is, an' maybe it ain't." He gave her a sly grin. "It wouldn't be th' first time I dreamed about ya', Daisy."

She blushed, not only because his tone and the look he gave her left little doubt as to what he'd dreamed, but because she'd never heard him talk like that. "Well, I reckon if this is a dream, you'd better make th' most of it."

He must have agreed because he leaned forward and kissed her slowly and gently, deepening it as she looped her arms around his neck and pulling her towards him.

His mind focused only on her, he was completely unaware of her hands unbuttoning his uniform until his arms were forced down as she tugged it off of him, and then her lips were stolen from his as she pushed him back to remove his undershirt. Instead of finding hers again, they found their way to her neck as he trailed soft kisses downward. He was thwarted by her shirt which was in the way and it was a long moment before he realized he needed to unbutton it. The thought stopped him in his tracks and he leaned back.

She met his eyes. "It's not gonna unbutton itself, sugar," she whispered, gently.

She ran her hands from where they rested on his shoulders, down his strong arms until she caught his hands in hers. She brought them up and placed a soft kiss on each in turn before guiding them to the button at the top of her blouse. He hesitated, then swallowed hard, and with trembling fingers unbuttoned the first button, and then the next, until he'd undone them all. She slipped it off, looped her arms around his neck, and lay back, pulling him down with her. Enos hovered over her, his eyes full of amazement as though he'd only just discovered his dream was real.

"...you're really _mine_..." he breathed with wonder.

Daisy smiled up at him, not knowing how she could have stood to live a single day without him. "All yours... _forever_ ," she whispered back.

 _[...]_

 _(**This isn't the last chapter**)  
_

* * *

 _A/N:_

 _Okay, if you're re-reading this...yes, I changed the ending a bit._

Anyway... _  
_

 _First, about the memory that Enos had of the railroad bridge. I know I've been throwing out memories and snippets here and there throughout this story about the past I've created for Enos and Daisy. I'm actually writing a sort of prequel which is called "The Story of Us". I've created such an elaborate backstory that I've been drawing from that I think writing it all out would really enrich this one, hopefully some of y'all will want to read it._

 _Second, Enos's name. I'm one of those crazy people who loves genealogy. Just ask my husband –spending 8 hours at the Historical Society is my idea of a good time (and I'm not even old!). Anywho...one thing you learn is that, especially in the deep south, it's extremely common for people to have kind of a common 'family' name for a first name that they never use and go by their middle name. (Except on marriage licenses, which is a pain in the rear end to look up if you don't know the actual first name of the person you're looking for.) Usually it's something like David, William, John, Charles, etc. Enos isn't really a very common name to have for a first name, so I chose one for him that I thought fit. Actually, Rosco calls him "Benjamin" twice in "Sittin' Dukes" so I'm pretending it was a Freudian slip.  
_


	21. Love's Full Circle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  _A/N: Well, here it is...the last chapter. (there's an epilogue also, so don't leave at the end). Thanks to everyone for all the encouragement throughout this story. Your reviews have made this story keep going, so if you've reviewed, my wholehearted thanks._

_A/N: Well, here it is...the last chapter. (there's an epilogue also, so don't leave at the end). Thanks to everyone for all the encouragement throughout this story. Your reviews have made this story keep going, so if you've reviewed, my wholehearted thanks._

 _...on with the story..._

* * *

" _...Don't anyone wake me  
if it's just a dream,  
'cause she's the best thing  
that ever happened to me._

All you fellows,  
 _you can look all you like,  
but this girl you see  
she's leavin' here with me tonight..."_

 _-Jeff Healey Band_

* * *

Enos wasn't sure what had woken him. It could have been the sound of an animal, or the moonlight which spilled in through the window, or the bed that wasn't his own. Perhaps it was an unconscious need to assure himself that reality had not fallen away into some crazy dream and that Daisy was still there, lying beside him. She slept quietly, facing him, her face pillowed on her hands. Face to face, he watched her, his mind still trying to sort out all that had happened over the last twenty-four hours.

Nothing between them had ever been clear cut, not since they were kids. Things had gotten confusing and complicated and though he wished he could go back and read between the lines, he'd always had a blind spot when it came to Daisy. Most people had probably forgotten or never known how close they'd been at one time, and it worried him that those who didn't know their history would think she'd done something rash – simply up and eloping with the man who'd rescued her.

Would Uncle Jesse and her cousins think the same - that she'd married him for the wrong reasons, like she'd almost done four years earlier to keep him out of prison? He reached over and brushed her hair back from her face, selfishly grateful that it was too late for them to change her mind or make her wait to be sure. He fell back asleep, thinking of Daisy and the future that at long last burned brightly before them.

* * *

In the still, silent moments between sleep and wakefulness, Daisy smiled, instinctively knowing that _this_ morning, something was different. Gradually the world of dreams dissolved into the reality of a bright, sunny Friday morning. A storm of thoughts, feelings, and a hundred memories past and present assaulted her senses as she opened her eyes and found to her satisfaction that the night before had not been a dream.

She watched Enos as he slept next to her, peacefully oblivious to her scrutiny, and wished he'd wake up. What would he say? She certainly hoped he wouldn't shy away from her – she'd had more than enough of that.

Her eyes rested on the scar she'd seen briefly while bandaging his gunshot wound. A scar she could see where began now that he wasn't wearing a shirt. Just above his right clavicle was a thick, crooked line which traveled across the top of his shoulder, angling down towards the inside of his arm, just missing his brachial artery before twisting back around and tapering off near the end of his forearm. She tried to shut out the thought of someone carving him up on purpose, but she knew it would be naïve to think otherwise, and couldn't stop the niggle of guilt in her heart still whispering that ultimately, she had been the reason for it.

It was hard to imagine all that he must have seen and done in Los Angeles working with SWAT and then homicide investigation. Lost in his dreams, he looked so sweet and innocent, and despite all the time that had passed between them, she still found him as adorable as always.

The light shining through the curtains had been moving slowly across the bed with the rising of the sun and now fell across his face. He stirred and opened his eyes, momentarily confused by his surroundings until he remembered and knew where he was. He yawned and ran his hand through his hair, then rolled over to find Daisy gazing at him.

"I had th' strangest dream last night," he said, smiling lazily. "I dreamt you married me, Daisy Mae."

"Funny 'bout those things," she said, happily, "ya' never know when they might come true."

He sighed contentedly and brushed his fingers across her cheek. "You're so beautiful."

She leaned over and kissed him gently until he pulled back with a sigh.

"We're gonna be in so much trouble...," he said, only half teasing. "I reckon ya' better enjoy bein' married while it lasts, 'cause when your cousins find out, they're gonna _kill_ me. An' then your _Uncle Jesse's_ gonna kill me. Any way ya' sift it, I figure you've only got a few hours 'till you're a widow."

"Yeah, I've been thinkin' about that," she told him. On one hand, she was old enough that it wasn't anybody's business if she wanted to up and get hitched in the middle of the night. On the other, she'd always believed trouble was better avoided in the first place. "When's your next day off?"

"Um, well let's see...th' Sheriff has t' take Flash to th' vet on Monday an' he's takin' Lulu to Capitol City Tuesday. Cletus is off Wednesday, so prob'ly next Thursday." He narrowed his eyes at her. "Why?"

"Well, I figure it'd be easier not t' tell anyone right yet. We'll just have a weddin' Thursday."

"Daisy...I ain't lyin' 'bout what happened."

"It's not lyin' tellin' 'em we're havin' a _weddin'_ ," she reminded him.

"That's splittin' hairs," he complained.

"'Sides," she continued, sweetly, "You don't aim t' break Uncle Jesse's heart now do ya'? I reckon he'd like t' believe he saw me get married."

"Daisy..."

"It'll be fine, Sugar. It's only a week..."

"Dai-sey!" he whined, throwing himself face down into the pillow, knowing he'd lost the debate even before it started.

Daisy felt a pang of guilt for how easy it had always been to get her way with Enos, but it couldn't be avoided if they didn't want to cause a ruckus with everyone else today. At least now she had some way to make it up to him, she thought wryly. She kissed his shoulder, making her way slowly across his upper back until she felt his breath catch.

He rolled back over, pulling her into his arms. "I _ain't_ gonna stay away from you for a week."

"I never said ya' had t' stay away. We'll just have t' be..."

"Sneaky?"

"I was gonna say creative."

"We're gonna get caught," he assured her. "An' then you'll be libel t' have a husband fulla buckshot."

She wrapped her arms around his neck. "I'll make sure you die happy, Enos..."

* * *

"Daisy sure is takin' her sweet time getting' here," complained Bo. He, Luke, and Cooter were gathered back at the garage sharing out a breakfast of dough-nuts and beer. "I thought ya' told her t' come early."

Luke glanced up at the clock which read 9:25am. "Well, she'd better get here 'fore long," he said, "she's gotta work at noon."

"Ya' know, I's just jokin' 'bout her an' Enos last night," said Bo, "but I ain't never known her t' be _this_ late. You don't s'pose they were really sneakin' around do ya', Luke?"

"I reckon we'll know pretty soon," he answered. "Enos ain't that hard t' read."

* * *

It was nearing 10:00am when Daisy and Enos finally headed on their way to town. "It's my day off, ya' know. Rosco sees me dressed like this, he's libel t' find somethin' that needs doin'," Enos said as he buttoned his coat. "If you'd've told me all your plans for yesterday, I would've brought a change of clothes," he teased.

" _My_ plans?" she laughed. " _You_ started it. 'Sides, you knew you were stayin' th' night."

"You were a might lackin' on th' details. What did Luke say when ya' called last night?"

"Uncle Jesse was lookin' for me..."

"What?.!"

"Sorry, not _lookin_ '...just askin'."

"So...what's th' plan?"

"I thought we'd tell 'em tonight about havin' a weddin' next week."

"You' want me t' pick ya' up after work?"

"That'd be fine..."

* * *

Luke was leaning against the wall outside Jake's when the General Lee finally pulled up in front.

"'Bout dang time!" he shouted.

"Sorry, Luke," said Enos as he climbed out the window. "Guess we lost track of time."

"Yeah, I'll bet," muttered Luke under his breath. "I thought it was your day off, Enos? Why ya' dressed like that?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I need t' go an' change, y'all. I'll be back in a minute."

He walked up the outside stairs to the loft.

"You comin'?" asked Luke when Daisy made no move to follow him in.

"I'll be right there," she said, "I'm gonna wait for Enos."

He shrugged. "Suit yourself."

It wasn't more than a few minutes before he came back down, now dressed casually. His ring caught the sun as he held onto the railing.

"Enos," said Daisy, quietly, "you've gotta take your ring off, honey. I reckon it'd be hard t' explain." She was glad she'd waited for him.

He looked sadly at the gold band on his finger before removing it and putting it in his shirt pocket. "So what's been goin' on around here that I can't see?"

"Come on," she said, taking his hand in hers.

Cooter and Bo, hearing voices from the garage, straggled out of the office.

"Say, where's Enos" asked Cooter, "Don't he wanna see his surprise?"

"What surprise?" asked Enos as he and Daisy walked into the garage.

"There y'all are!" exclaimed Bo. "We done waited half th' mornin' for ya'. What th' heck took ya' so long?"

"Shucks, Bo," said Enos, "we warn't gonna speed t' get here."

Daisy laughed, and it took Bo a few seconds to realize that he hadn't answered his question at all.

"Are we just gonna stand around or what?" asked Daisy. "I've gotta get t' work."

"Uh, well...," started Bo.

"What Bo here's tryin' t' say," interrupted Luke, "is that we've been tryin' t' figure out how t' properly thank ya', Enos, for what'cha did, savin' Daisy an' all."

"Ah shucks, fellas, I's just doin' my job," he said, but he put his arm around Daisy's shoulders, belying just what he really thought about it.

"Shoot, Enos, it was a hell of a lot more t' us. An' I reckon it was t' you, too," said Bo.

Luke elbowed his cousin. "An' if Bo here'd shut up, you could see what we thought up for ya'. Come on over here."

Enos released Daisy and followed Luke with the others. Luke pulled the tarp off to reveal the now shiny, sapphire blue Javelin with white racing stripes.

For a moment, Enos could only stare, not believing it could be his car. "Possum on a gum-bush..." He reached out and ran his hand lovingly over it's roof. "This is really _mine_?" he asked them.

Cooter clapped him on the back. "All yours, Buddy-roe."

He laughed nervously. "I...I don't rightly know what t' say. You fellas didn't have t' do this!"

"Shoot, Enos," said Bo, "we know we didn't have to, but it looked so gosh-darn awful... We figured you'd better look th' part if you're gonna give th' General a run for his money on th' track'."

"Wow..."

"Oh!" said Luke, "I almost forgot! Climb in, we've got somethin' else t' show ya'." Enos tried to open the door, but it wouldn't budge. "It ain't a patrol car, Enos, it's a racin' car. We welded th' doors shut."

Enos climbed through the window into the driver's seat of the car. Luke climbed into the passenger's seat, and reached into the backseat where a loop of the same color vinyl as the interior was connected to the bottom section of the seat, near the floorboard. He pulled up on it, and as he did, the rear seat opened to reveal a hidden compartment nearly two feet deep and as wide and long as the back seat.

"Wanna know what we found in there?"

"Gosh, I'm afraid t' guess," said Enos.

"In there, my friend, we found twelve gallons of grade A, number 1, prime moonshine," he grinned at the shock on Enos's face. "Bet ya' never thought _you'd_ be running 'shine, now did ya'?"

"Don't that beat all?" he laughed. "I's lookin' for a car that could pass for a runner when I found it. Didn't know it was already stocked."

"Key's are in it. Take it for a spin." Luke climbed back out of the car, and Daisy leaned in the window.

"Hey sugar, can I come?"

"You'd better. Hop in an' I'll drop ya' at th' Boar's Nest."

Daisy turned to her cousins. "Hey, would you fellas take Dixie home for me tonight? Enos can pick me up from work."

Bo and Luke shared confused looks.

"Um..."

"Uh, yeah, I guess so, Daisy."

Enos turned the key and the car roared to life as Daisy hopped in.

"Don't wreck it!" hollered Cooter as Enos peeled out of the the garage and squealed the tires on the pavement.

The three of them stared after the car as it circled the square and then disappeared.

"Well, y'all, it's sure been fun, but I'm gonna miss my flight if I don't shake a leg," said Cooter. "I'll catch y'all later."

"You take care, Cooter,"said Luke, patting him on the back.

"Yeah, hey, don't be a stranger now, ya' hear?"

"Oh, I'll be around, Bo. We'll see y'all."

Cooter backed his pickup out of the drive and rolled down the window, gesturing down the street where Enos and Daisy had disappeared. "If I's y'all, I'd keep tabs on them two," he said before driving off himself.

Bo looked out at the empty road. "What'd ya' reckon that's s'posed t' mean?"

"I think we best give 'em an escort home tonight," said Luke, "...make sure they actually get there."

* * *

While Bo and Luke were helping Jake pull the dents out of the General Lee, Enos dropped Daisy off at the Boar's Nest and tried to find something to do with himself for the next eight hours. He didn't especially want to go back to Jake's and listen to the Duke boys speculate on what happened the night before. He was terrible at keeping secrets and if he spilled the beans to Bo and Luke about being married, Daisy'd kill him...if her cousins didn't first. Driving by rote, he wasn't surprised to find himself turning off towards Hazzard pond. He pulled up at the bank and climbed out to better inspect his car. Gosh, but it was pretty...he laughed, remembering what Luke had told him about it's hidden cargo.

"You like t've got me in big trouble," he told it. "S'pose it was a good thing I didn't pull over for Rosco th' other day."

* * *

Bo and Luke were already at the Boar's Nest when Enos pulled in at 7:00pm. He was an hour early, but he'd already exhausted everything else he could figure to waste time doing, including climbing back into his car and taking a long nap. Besides, there was always something interesting going on at the bar, and he could watch Daisy to his heart's content. He frowned as he pulled up next to the General Lee, wishing her cousins weren't there to pick on him.

Being a Friday night, it was crowded, and the only seat left was at the bar, which was where he'd rather be anyway. He took a seat, waving politely at Bo and Luke a couple tables away.

"Hey there Enos!" shouted Luke.

Daisy heard her cousin and looked around until she spotted Enos and flashed him a radiant smile. She walked back over behind the bar and down to his spot.

"Hey Enos, you want th' regular?"

"Sure thing, Daisy Mae."

"Be right back, sugar."

Luke, who'd been watching the two, groaned.

"What?" asked Bo.

"Didja hear what he called her?"

"No, I wasn't payin' attention."

"He just called her 'Daisy Mae'," said Luke. "He ain't called her that going on twenty years."

"So?"

"So, you can best bet that if he's callin' her _that_ again, there's definitely somethin' goin' on between 'em. An knowin' them two, trouble ain't likely t' be followin' too close behind."

"What? Daisy an' Enos? Ain't neither one of them apt t' get into too much trouble."

Luke laughed. "You ain't old enough t' remember what they was like growin' up. You get both of 'em apart, they're regular saints, but ya' get 'em together, there ain't a scrape they didn't get into when they were kids. Did ya' know that when Daisy was eleven an' Enos was thirteen, Cooter found 'em hitchikin' up on the Georgia, Tennessee border?"

Bo nearly choked on his beer. "What!.?"

"It's true. They's dang lucky Cooter was comin' back from makin' a run and saw 'em. Lord knows what would've happened to 'em otherwise."

"Well, how th' heck did they get up there in th' first place? That's a hell of a long way from Hazzard County!"

"Don't know, they wouldn't tell anyone," he said. "Enos got grounded from leavin' home for a month, though."

Bo thought as far back as he could remember, but he was nearly eight years younger than Enos, and his memories of the two together as kids were sketchy at best. "So, if they were that close, what th' heck happened?"

Luke shook his head. "I don't know exactly what happened, but it sure looks like they fixed it."

Bo took another glance over at Enos and Daisy who were talking and laughing easily with each other, like they'd been best friends their whole lives."

At a table near the door, two men who'd had their limit and a little over, began to yell for more beer.

Daisy rolled her eyes at Enos. "Sorry, honey, I gotta take care of th' riff-raff."

Enos had made a habit of coming by if Daisy was working Friday or Saturday night. There were at least a few drunks by late evening and inevitably a fight would break out. He was always worried about her getting caught in the middle of it since drunks in a scuffle didn't generally look around to make sure they weren't hitting the bystanders instead. He watched her as she walked back around the bar and over to the other table.

"I think you fellas have had enough tonight," she told them, but when she leaned over to take their pitcher off the table, the one sitting closest to her grabbed her around the waist and pulled her into his lap.

"Hey, babe, how 'bout I just take you instead," he leered.

"Get your grubby paws offa me!" she shouted, but the man just held her tighter, groping at her.

Enos wasn't even aware he'd gotten off of his stool until he found himself standing in front of the man, his eyes flashing with fury. Bo was about to get up as well, but Luke held him back.

"She said t' let her go," Enos seethed at the man.

The man tossed Daisy aside onto the floor and stood up. "What? You gonna do somethin' about it, hayseed?"

Enos didn't bother to answer him, just gave him a right hook.

The man picked himself up and ran at Enos, knocking him backwards into a table and both men went down. The atmosphere in the Boar's Nest was electrified as the patrons got to their feet to watch the fight – it wasn't everyday that Deputy Enos Strate was the one scuffling around on the floor...in fact no one could remember him ever having done so. Chants of "Come on, Enos!" and "Get him, Enos!" filled the room. The other guy had him pinned to the floor, but Enos hadn't survived the LA beat without learning a few tricks. He head-butted the guy, stunning him and causing him to release his grip. The second he moved his hand, Enos caught him with another punch. Before the man could right himself, Enos grabbed his arm and twisted it back behind him and hauled him to his feet.

Everyone cheered as he tossed the man towards the door and shouted, "Don't mess with my...my..."

"...wife."

At first, Enos thought he'd been the one to say it, but the voice wasn't his. He turned around, unaware that the crowd had fallen silent, to see Daisy standing behind him.

"Isn't that what you meant to say?" she asked, quietly, her eyes riveted on his.

"What happened t' not tellin' yet?" he asked, as she stepped into his arms.

She shook her head, smiling softly up at him. "You were right, Enos, it was a bad idea." She reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out his ring, then took his left hand in hers and slid it back onto his finger. "I don't care what anyone else thinks - I love you, Enos Strate, an' I'm proud t' be your wife."

As their lips met, a flurry of whoops and people banging beer mugs on tables echoed through the room. Bo and Luke just stared in shock at Enos and Daisy kissing each other passionately in the middle of the Boar's Nest.

"Luke...," said Bo, finally, "did she say _wife?_ "

" _Oh Lord_..."

The two finally pulled away from each other and Daisy spoke up. "Well, y'all," she called to everyone in the bar, "I s'pose th' cat's outta th' bag. Last round's on th' house."

Most everyone cheered, except Bo and Luke who were making their way though the crowd of people trying to congratulate them.

"I think y'all need t' come outside so we can talk," said Luke to Daisy and Enos.

Enos frowned. "If you've got somethin' t' say, Luke, just say it."

"Come on," Daisy said quietly, tugging on Enos's hand to pull him back from Luke. The tension between the two was palatable.

"Alright, Daisy," he whispered, and let her guide him out of the bar.

The air outside the Boar's Nest was cold but not enough to cool Luke's temper which was focused on Enos. Regardless of how much Daisy felt for the guy, he just wasn't quite prepared for the fact that Enos had run off with Daisy in the middle of the night. _He_ was the oldest, the one who was supposed to protect her - only to find his job suddenly stolen away from him without a word. He shoved the Deputy up against the brick wall. "What have you done?"

"Luke!" shouted Daisy and Bo, pulling their cousin back, "Stop it!"

Daisy moved to stand between Luke and Enos. "You cool it right now, Luke Duke!" she told him.

"Luke, just hear 'em out," urged Bo.

"Fine...I'm listenin'."

Luke grudgingly backed up a step and Daisy's expression softened. "We never intended t' just run off, but after we nearly got killed by a drunk up on Ridge-runner Road comin' home, things got put in a different perspective - 'specially considerin' what happened last month," she added.

Luke's anger disappeared immediately, replaced by concern - everybody knew Ol' Ridge Road might as well be called the 'road of death'. "You never said nothin about bein' up on th' ridge, an' you told me it was just a busted taillight an' a couple dents," he reminded her.

"It was a little closer shave than th' damage made it look like," she admitted, looking away.

"Geez, Daisy..." Luke wrapped her in a hug, only now aware that the same road that had claimed his father had almost claimed his cousin and friend as well. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

He released Daisy and looked back at Enos. "I'm sorry, Enos, I didn't mean nothin' personal towards you by it," said Luke, "It just...took me by surprise is all."

"That's okay, Luke," he said, shaking the hand Luke offered. "Kinda took me by suprise, too." He grinned at Daisy.

"So now wait... you two really ran off an' got hitched?" asked Bo.

"Yep, already done did it," said Enos, amused now that it seemed he wasn't about to be executed.

"Shoot...Well dang, come 'ere, girl." Bo grabbed Daisy and gave her a bear hug as she laughed.

Luke stood back, looking at Enos and Daisy for a long moment before shaking his head and giving them an amused snort . "If you two don't beat all..."

"You know," said Bo, "I reckon we'd best be getting' home 'fore someone calls Uncle Jesse t' congratulate him."

"I'll kick everyone out an' lock up," said Daisy. She kissed Enos on the cheek and went back inside.

* * *

Uncle Jesse knew something strange was going on as the parade of three vehicles pulled up outside and Bo, Luke, Daisy, and Enos got out. "Must be somethin' big," he mused to himself, looking out the window, "th' whole Calvary's a-comin'."

He sat down in the chair by the fire and waited for them to come in. As they filed past the kitchen and into the living room, he knew immediately it had something to do with the two that walked in holding hands, looking like they'd just done something that was gonna get them in trouble.

"Alright, you two," he told them, "don't bother beatin' around th' bush. Ya' look guiltier than a fox havin' chicken dinner."

Daisy and Enos shared a glance between themselves.

"Uh, well, Uncle Jesse," began Daisy.

"We got hitched," finished Enos.

Jesse just looked at the two of them. "Well," he said, finally "did ya' _mean to_?" He watched as their faces turned from nervous to confused.

"Well... yeah, we _meant_ to," said Daisy. Enos nodded his assent.

"What?" said the older man, looking around at the stunned faces. "Now don't tell me y'all thought you was gonna shock ol' Uncle Jesse. 'Specially not th' way you two've been wandering around here with yer heads in th' clouds." He gestured at Enos and Daisy.

"I thought you'd be upset about me not havin' a proper weddin'," explained Daisy.

Uncle Jesse got up and walked over to his niece and took her gently by the shoulders. "Daisy, I'm more interested in ya' marryin' th' right man, an' for th' right reasons - not how fancy it is when ya' do it." His kind blue eyes met her tear filled ones. "Can tell me ya' did both of them things?"

She nodded her head. "I married Enos 'cause I love him, Uncle Jesse."

Her uncle hugged her tight. "Then I'm more than happy for ya', baby girl."

He let her go and patted her cheek gently before turning to Enos. "Yer pa'd be awful proud of ya', son," he told the younger man. "Just like all of us have always been."

Enos had to clear his throat before he could speak, "Thank you, Uncle Jesse," he said, quietly. "I won't let ya' down."

* * *

Jesse Duke got up early Saturday morning and made his way quietly through the house into the kitchen. Bo and Luke still slept and Daisy and Enos had gone back to town the night before. He looked around, thinking how quiet it would be without Daisy living there. Instead of starting breakfast, he opened the cabinet and felt on the top shelf until his fingers found the small flask of clear liquid stashed there. He didn't make much moonshine anymore, only a few gallons every couple years – for medicinal purposes...and special occasions such as today he reckoned to himself as he tucked the flask in his pocket. Picking up his keys, he left the house, catching the screen door on the way out so as not to wake his nephews.

The old Pine Ridge Cemetery up in the depths of the Blue Ridge foothills was still and calm that morning. The head stones sat like sentinels, guarding the memories of many long forgotten, and some not so much. It wasn't used very often anymore, containing mostly the old families – those that had known these hills for generations, and time was already dragging it back into the wilderness from which it had been carved. All the kids' parents were here, save Bo's mother who had been buried in New Friendship, closer to town. Uncle Jesse supposed some day, he'd rest here as well.

He visited his own family first, raking the leaves away from the base of the stone that read Martha Lavinia Duke and the small one next to it where rested the only child he and his wife had ever had - a baby girl, stillborn. He wasn't ashamed of the tears in his eyes, he was old enough to know better, and he still missed her somethin' fierce. She would've been happy to hear her two favorite trouble makers had finally found each other again.

After a few more minutes, Jesse got up and dusted off his overalls, adjusted his hat, and made his way on towards the back corner of the graveyard. There were five head stones grouped together here around an old monument, mostly eaten by lichen and weather, upon which read the surname "Strate". He stopped at the one on the end, removed the flask from his pocket, and took a swig.

"Well, Otis my friend, I s'pose somewhere's you're lookin' down havin' a good laugh at me right about now," he said. "An' I s'pose you'd be in th' right since this means you won that bet fair an' square." He moved the flask over the grave as if toasting an unseen friend. "Here's t' our kids finally gettin' hitched..." Jesse poured the remainder of the flask over the ground at the base of the stone. "You always said they'd run off together some day...an' so they did - though quite a bit later than _you_ thought they would. I s'pose they had a lot t' sort out, but it sure is good t' have 'em back together."

 _[Fine.]_

* * *

 _A/N: Please note, there is an Epilogue. This isn't quite the end._

 _Gotta tell ya', this chapter took forever and a day, and there are a couple 'easter eggs' scattered around that were going to have a purpose, but I ended up not using them. Most notably Enos stashing their Marriage License in the glove compartment of the General._

 _Enos's car is pictured in my "Visual Guide to BAHM", link on my profile page.  
_

 _Hope you've enjoyed the ride...I sure have._


	22. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  _A/N: I posted this and the last chapter at the same time, make sure you've read Ch.21 before you read this._

_A/N: I posted this and the last chapter at the same time, make sure you've read Ch.21 before you read this._

* * *

 _-Epilogue-_

It was a warm, sunny, spring day at Hazzard Pond, and Enos thought they might actually score a fish dinner tonight with the luck they'd had. He'd given up his own line some time before, finding it more entertaining to watch the kids than worry with catching any more himself.

A little girl with long, nut brown hair climbed up into his lap and sat down. "Daddy," she said, "why do fish like worms?"

"I dunno, sweetpea," he answered, "maybe they taste good. Have ya' ever eaten one?" He laughed at the expression on four year old, Lilly's, face.

"Ew! I'd never eat a worm!" She thought for a minute. "Ya' know, momma says you are whatcha eat. If I ate a worm, would I turn into one?"

"Well, I reckon you eat fish an' you ain't turned into one, yet...wait...," he looked closely at her, "You know, Lil', I think ya' _might_ be lookin' a little green an' scaly..."

She laughed. "Daddy, you're so silly."

Enos ruffled her hair as she bounced away, going over to her mom around the other side of the dock to no doubt ask her the same questions. His eyes met Daisy's and they grinned at each other. Turning back around, he watched puzzled as nine year old Zachary threaded his fourth worm onto his line.

"Son, you know puttin' more worms on there ain't gonna catch ya' a bigger fish."

"Jenny's dad said that he caught a 18 pound bass in here last summer."

"Jenny _Davenport_?" Jenny was the result of Cooter finally moving back to Hazzard and settling down...with a girl fifteen years his junior. "I think her dad's been drinkin' th' pond water again if he thinks he caught a fish that big in here, Zach."

"Dad, can she come over from school on Monday?"

Enos groaned. "Go ask yer mom. She's th' one's gotta put up with th' two of ya'." He ran off. "An' don't tell her I said _'yes'_ this time!"

A horn honked behind him and Enos looked back to see ol' Hank Wilson's red pickup stopped on the bank above them. He stood and walked up the from the dock towards the road.

"Hey, Mr. Wilson," he called, "how's th' plantin' goin'?"

"Oh, just fine, Sheriff. Y'all catchin' anything?"

"A few. They were jumpin' earlier, but not much th' last hour. Say, tell your wife we really appreciated the pie she dropped by the station last week. Sure was mighty fine."

The man looked pleased. "I'll tell her. She's right proud of them grape pie's of her's. Well, I'll let ya' get back t' yer family. Tell Daisy I said 'hi'."

"I will. You take care now."

The truck drove off and Enos turned towards the pond again, smiling as he watched his wife and children, and thinking just how lucky he was to have them.

()()()

* * *

 _A/N: Well, folks, that's the end. I've really enjoyed writing this story and I hope you've found some measure of happiness in reading it._

 _I'll be leaving the future of Enos and Daisy to the imagination, but their past is another story...literally._

 _I'll be posting the first vignettes in the back-story that I made up and used for this one very soon, in fact one of the reasons this chapter took so long is because I've already written half of the 1st chapter. It looks like it will be titled "The Story of Us" unless I come up with something more creative by then. I'll be posting the link to HazzardNet when it's up or you can do the 'author alert' here to let you know when I've posted. **The Story of Us has been published! Click on my profile to find the link**  
_

 _As always, even though this story is completed, it's so encouraging to get reviews. If you've enjoyed it...or even if you didn't...please take a moment to review. Thanks again for reading..._


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